


Ghost Rider

by AsherWritesAStory



Category: South Park
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Marvel Cinematic Universe Fusion, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Background Relationships, Car Accident mention, Heartbreak, M/M, Mentions of Cancer, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rekindling relationships, Running Away, Self Loathing, Strained Friendships, Strained Relationships, Time Skips, Trigger Warning: Cancer, Trigger Warning: Death, ghost rider AU, no beta we die like men, superhero au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2020-03-05 10:33:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 36,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18826894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsherWritesAStory/pseuds/AsherWritesAStory
Summary: This is the story of Craig Tucker, a teenager who makes a life changing deal with a stranger in order to save his father’s life while also losing the best part of himself in the process.Years later the stranger approaches him once again, saying that he wishes for his rider to rise up, turning Craig into his bounty hunter known only as the Ghost Rider.But when a twist of fate brings his long lost love back into his life Craig realizes he might just have another chance at happiness if he can beat the devil and win back his soul.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He was eighteen and he was seventeen and they were oh so hopelessly in love. They were practically always seen with one another no matter the time of day, walking side by side with their arms around each other as they talked about their lives to one another as if they were the only two people in the world.
> 
> But that was all they knew in this crazy world. They were the other person support system when no one else had their back.
> 
> But of course all good things had to come to an end at some point in time. The tides would turn and the winds would shift that may cause everything to drift.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my main and my writing Tumblr accounts :
> 
> Main : https://masked-vigilante.tumblr.com/
> 
> Writing : https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/

He was eighteen and he was seventeen and they were oh so hopelessly in love. They were practically always seen with one another no matter the time of day, walking side by side with their arms around each other as they talked about their lives to one another as if they were the only two people in the world.

But that was all they knew in this crazy world. They were the other persons support system when no one else had their back.

But of course all good things had to come to an end at some point in time. The tides would turn and the winds would shift that may cause everything to drift.

The news that Tweek had to bare was throwing the weight of the world on his shoulders. He needed to tell Craig, but he needed to figure out when the best time to tell him would be.

Right now they had gone for a ride, stopping under a big oak tree right on the outskirts of the small little town they lived in. Craig’s bike was parked on the side of the road as they looked out at the town, one of Craig’s arms around draped around Tweek’s shoulders as the blonde was snuggled up against his side, Craig’s leather motorcycle jacket resting on his knees.

“Hey Craig?” Tweek glanced up at his boyfriend just as the wind picked up and started blowing his black hair in front of his eyes that caused Tweek to giggle slightly.

“What’s up Tweek?”

“I have to talk to you…”

Craig moved to a distance in order to see Tweek clearly, studying his face with wavering hazel eyes, trying to see if he could get some kind of read on Tweek’s emotions.

“Everything okay?”

“Not really.”

“What’s wrong?”

Tweek bit his bottom lip and starting fidgeting with the sleeve of Craig’s jacket as his head went back against the trunk of the tree, his eyes looking up at the sky through the blowing and rustling leaves overhead.

The sun was on the verge of setting over the city before them and Tweek couldn’t help but allow his eyes to wander that way, trying to avoid Craig’s face the best he could.

But it was getting harder to do. It was getting much more difficult to hold back his tears the more he thought about this whole situation. All the sadness, stress and heartache that was about to be endured. It would be all too much and he wasn’t exactly sure he would be able to handle it.

“Tweek?” He felt Craig pull him close, rub a hand up and down his arm to reassure him. Tweek’s head rested comfortably under Craig’s chin as he started to sniffle and sob silently.

He hoped Craig didn’t hear.

But he was wrong.

“What’s wrong, why are you crying?”

“I- we’re moving. My parents think it’s in their best interest to expand the business, that they’ll have better success in the city. Everything is sold and they just sprung this on me this morning so I don’t really have a choice in the matter...”

“What?”

Tweek pulled away to finally look his boyfriend in the face, tears rolling down his cheeks as he hugged Craig tightly, his face burying itself into his grey t-shirt while Craig rubbed his back and kissed the top of his head.

“So, you’re leaving me?” Craig sounded broken, his voice cracking as if he was struggling to hold back tears of his own as his hands grabbed Tweek’s sweatshirt.

“I’m sorry Craig, I’m so sorry.”

“When?”

“Soon, I think. Like I said, they just told me all of this stuff this morning.”

Craig thought for a moment before standing up and kicking a pebble with his boot, wiping at his face with the back of his hand.

“I have an idea,” he managed to look over his shoulder and give the blonde a weak smile.

Tweek raised a brow, dabbed at his face with the collar of his sweater as he stood, grabbing Craig’s jacket and draping it over his shoulders. “What're you talking about?”

“What I’m saying is, in two day we’ll leave. We’ll meet here, hop on my bike and we’ll just keep going.”

Tweek looked up at Craig with big, hopeful blue eyes. He did his best to muster up his best smile before hugging Craig tightly, the black haired man lifting his arms up before gently placing them on Tweek’s back and kissing the top of his head.

“What about your family?”

“They don’t need me, they don’t need anyone. All I need is you, Tweek, and I’ll be happy.”

More tears rolled down Tweek’s face at Craig’s words. He loved how supportive he was, how much Craig loved and cared for him. He wasn’t exactly sure how he had gotten so lucky when it came to having Craig as his boyfriend but he would be forever grateful.

“What time?” Tweek rested his chin on Craig’s chest as he looked up at him.

“We’ll meet at noon.”

“That sounds like a good plan to me.”

Craig leaned down and placed a light and gentle kiss to Tweek’s lips, pulling away slowly and holding his boyfriend close, swaying back and forth in the wind for just a moment longer until the sun disappeared beyond the horizon.

“It’s getting late you know,” Tweek’s voice was quiet as the last of his tears fell.

“Are you telling me I have to get you home?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying unfortunately.”

They knew this day together would eventually have to come to a close, they just weren’t expecting it to happen so fast.

But they walked hand in hand to Craig’s bike, the black haired teenager securing the helmet on his boyfriend’s head before putting on his own, starting up his bike to let the engine roar to life, and taking off down the empty stretch of road that lead them back into their quiet and cozy little town.

It was a peaceful drive, Tweek buried his face into Craig’s back and kept his arms wrapped tightly around his waist, just like he had always done ever since Craig first told him to do so.

And time seemed to drift away. He wasn’t sure how long they had been riding for or how much time had truly even passed them by, but before Tweek even realized it Craig was pulling into his driveway and turning off his bike.

“Hate to say it but you’re home.”

Tweek grumbled and held on to Craig’s shirt just a little longer, the scent of Craig’s cologne hitting his nose.

Tweek took off the helmet and secured it safely to the back of the bike, then he started taking off Craig’s jacket.

“Keep it,” he lifted up the visor so Tweek could see his eyes.

“What?”

“I said keep it,” Craig smiled and wrapped Tweek up in a hug.

Soon enough they could leave all of this behind and live their lives they way they wanted to. They could stay by each other’s sides for as long as they wished and no one would be able to tell them anything different.

“Pack, get everything together that you’ll need.”

Tweek nodded, his eyes sparkling.

“I’ll call you tomorrow, maybe we can get some lunch?”

“I’d like that very-“

“Tweek.”

Damn that voice. If it wasn’t one parent it was the other, always ruining the moment at the end of a perfect day.

“Come on inside son, it’s cold out here.”

“I’m coming!” Tweek shouted over his shoulder to his dad, who was standing in the doorway of their house with his arms crossed, before turning his attention back to Craig, “I look forward to lunch tomorrow.”

The blonde gave Craig’s hand a quick squeeze before making his way inside, his father shutting the door behind him even as Craig offered a wave which left the gesture unnoticed.

Craig started his bike once more and took on down the road, making his way home to settle himself in for a good night's rest. To pack up his belonging, and to get ready for a whole new adventure to begin shortly.

But what was waiting for him at home?

Well, that was something that would turn his life in a completely new direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> Here I am with my newest multi-chaptered fic that is based on _Ghost Rider_. I’m putting a lot of work into planning this out so hopefully you guys like the direction this story is going to go.
> 
> I don’t really have an update schedule so it’s just going to be whenever I finish chapters.
> 
> Anyway, it means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this story a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He tried to hold back and he tried to resist, but his body wasn’t listening to what he wanted. Instead he wrapped his hand around the paper and took it from the man who, in response, simply grinned at him in a way that made Craig’s stomach flip in an unsettling way.
> 
> As he unrolled the paper the blood from knuckles rolled down his hands, eventually trickling down his wrist and dripping onto the dotted line that was at the bottom of the paper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my main and my writing Tumblr accounts :
> 
> Main : https://masked-vigilante.tumblr.com/
> 
> Writing : https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/

His ride home was short, but it was peaceful. It allowed Craig the time he needed to fully reflect on the events that occurred tonight. How he and Tweek would leave everything this quiet little town had to offer in just two days time.

It was all so surreal to be thinking about. But it was worth it. Tweek was worth it. Hell a lot of the things Craig did were because of Tweek and he wasn’t about to give up any of that because his parents wanted to drag him out to the city so they could better themselves.

Craig pulled into the driveway of his family’s home, parking his bike on the side of the garage and tugging off his helmet.

The lights were off, he assumed everyone was asleep. At least he hoped they were.

He pulled his house key from his pocket, thank god they weren’t in his leather jacket since Tweek still had that, and made his way inside as silently as he could.

He could tell the television had just been turned off probably minutes before he had arrived home. He could still smell the lingering scent of the lasagna his mother had made for dinner, and the humming of the dryer from the basement reaching his ears.

Craig tossed his helmet onto the couch and made his way into the kitchen, opening the fridge and looking at the plate sitting there on the top shelf with a note attached.

‘Figured you’d be home late, here’s leftovers from dinner. Love you, mom.’

Craig smiled a half smile before setting the note on the counter and grabbing the plate, making his way over to the microwave and warming it up for a few minutes.

While he waited he grabbed a can of soda, some silverware and a napkin before grabbing his plate before the microwave started beeping at him. He had gotten pretty good at that over the past few months ever since he started staying out later and later as the days passed him by.

As he sat down at the table something caught his eye that sat under the candle on the middle of the table. He knew he shouldn’t pry but his curiosity had gotten the better of him

He grabbed the piece of paper, his eyes scanning it over and only a few words registered in his mind as he read them, everything else becoming a complete and utter blur in his mind.

_...the cancer has spread._

His eyes went wide, his jaw hanging open slightly as he knitted his brows together, trying his best to comprehend what exactly it was he was reading, how long something like this had been and issue and why exactly no one had bothered to mention it to him.

If he was being honest it broke his heart in a weird way. Craig was an adult, maybe not to his parents but he was, and he could handle things like this. Finding out on his own just somehow felt like a swift punch in the gut.

But his sadness quickly turned to anger and frustration as he tossed the paper aside and stood up in a flurry of motions that almost caused the chair he was sitting in to fly backwards and smackdown against the tile flooring.

He left his food sitting there, his appetite suddenly leaving him, as he stormed out of the kitchen and grabbed his helmet from the couch before heading back outside, hopping on his bike and riding back off into the night without a care.

He didn’t really have a destination in mind, perhaps he would just ride until his bike ran out of gas and left him deserted on the side of the road. But he didn’t care where he ended up. He needed to leave, needed to be by himself and fully come to terms with what was happening.

He didn’t care that it had started to rain, didn’t care that there was a strong wind with thunder roaring overhead. Craig didn’t care about anything right now.

His dad had cancer and his parents were trying their hardest to hide that information from him, and quite possibly his sister, and he couldn’t seem to bring himself to forgive them for not telling them. And sure, they probably had their reasons for keeping it from him, but it still sucked and it hurt and he felt betrayed.

And as much as he wanted to keep riding, tears were swelling up in his eyes as he pulled over to the side of the road by the lake they had near town that he and some friends would frequent over the summer as children.

He tossed his helmet aside once he stopped his bike and punched the nearest tree, his body too overwhelmed with one too many emotions to even fully register the pain that he was currently feeling.

And the tears pooled in his eyes before rolling down his face as he kicked at the ground and continued to lightly punch the tree in front of him. And it’s not like he was crying because he was sad, matter of fact it was just the opposite. The tears that rolled down his face were from the anger, the pain and the frustrations that he was currently dealing with inside of himself. His heart was hammering in his chest and he felt like everything around him was crashing down so quickly and he just couldn’t stop it.

“You look like you’re having a hard time.”

Craig jumped at the sudden voice that came from behind him. He wiped at his face as he looked over his shoulder to see a man with black hair and greying sides standing there under a black umbrella that Craig knew for a fact wasn’t there when he had arrived.

“Can I uh, can I help you?”

“Perhaps,” the man shrugged. “Instead I was hoping I could help you.”

“What're you talking about?”

The man didn’t say a word, instead he looked out at the lake with a smile spreading across his face as Craig turned to fully face him with a raised brow.

“Your father, he’s sick right?”

“How the hell do you know about that?”

“What if I told you that I could help him?”

Craig laughed to himself, leaning back against the tree and crossing his arms as he tried to ignore his bloodied knuckles and the pain that was suddenly running through his hands and up his arms.

He had no one to blame for that but himself though.

“No, no, really. I mean that.”

“Can’t say I really believe in miracles, therefore I can’t really say I believe you.”

“By this time tomorrow your father will be as healthy as a horse. But,” the man reached into his coat and pulled out a rolled up piece of yellowed parchment paper. Craig looked at him with an inquisitive look as the man approached the teenager, holding it out to him with a grin. “It’ll cost you your soul.”

Craig didn’t want to take it, didn’t want to believe a word that was coming out of this man’s mouth. But there was a part of him that seemed to be in some sort of trance, like the movements he was making weren’t his own.

He tried to hold back and he tried to resist, but his body wasn’t listening to what he wanted. Instead he wrapped his hand around the paper and took it from the man who, in response, simply grinned at him in a way that made Craig’s stomach flip in an unsettling way.

As he unrolled the paper the blood from his knuckles rolled down his hands, eventually trickling down his wrist and dripping onto the dotted line that was at the bottom of the paper.

It was a weird feeling that washed over him, he felt a type of surge course through his veins as he flinched back, dropping the paper to the ground by his boots and shaking his hand, watching how the paper rolled up.

“That’ll do just fine,” the man smiled up at him as he bent down to grab the parchment, his eyes giving off a very subtle yellow glow as he looked at Craig’s face, standing slowly and placing the paper back inside of the pocket of his jacket.

Craig held his wrist, looking between his hand and the man standing before him with a slight scowl on his face.

And when a flash of lightning lit up the sky and damn near blinding Craig in the process the weirdest thing occurred. As Craig’s vision returned to him the man before him was gone, making it seem as if he wasn’t even there.

Craig looked every which direction, completely dumbstruck and confused as to what exactly just happened.

“What the hell…?”

He cautiously made his way back to his bike, picking up his helmet, putting it on his head and driving back home through the downpour that surrounded him as his head started spinning and questions flooded his brain.

Because that truly was a strange encounter that he had just endured. Every single bone in his body felt like it was on fire and right now all he wanted to do was crash in his own bed and worry about all of this craziness come morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this story a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Because I upheld my end of the bargain by curing your father’s cancer so now it’s time you uphold your end of the deal.”
> 
> Craig’s heart stopped. His blood ran cold. As much as he wanted to say he didn’t remember bargaining away his soul at the cost of his father’s life he did. He remembered this man saying that to him.
> 
> Craig Tucker had messed up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my main and my writing Tumblr accounts :
> 
> Main : https://masked-vigilante.tumblr.com/
> 
> Writing : https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/

The smell of waffles and bacon hit his nose in a flash and he sat up in bed almost instantly. Craig rubbed the sleep away from his eyes and cracked his back before standing and making his way down stairs, his mother and father already in the kitchen.

“Morning sleeping beauty,” his dad greeted him as he lowered the newspaper in his hands.

His mother gave him a kiss on the cheek as she put a plate of food into his hands before making her way over to the table to pour him a cup of orange juice.

It was kind of surreal in a way, the letter that sat on the table last night no longer there and his parents were acting as if everything was normal.

“Where’s Tricia?” Craig asked, realizing that the clock on the wall read 11:45am, meaning he had slept a lot longer then he had intended to do.

But he had a weird night so no one could really blame him for his actions.

“She’s with a friend, I dropped her off twenty minutes ago,” his mother told him. “But since we have you alone for a moment before you go running off your father and I would like to talk to you.”

His eyes went from his mother to his father. This had to be the cancer conversation. It had to be. There could be no other possible thing that they would need to discuss with him.

“What’s up?” He took a bite of his food, being cautious to make sure he didn’t spit anywhere.

“I’ve been sick son,” his dad started as he folded the paper and set it next to his cup of coffee. “I had an appointment this morning and, well, everything’s fine.”

“Come again?”

“Craig, sweetheart,” his mother placed a hand on top of one of her son’s. “Dad had cancer, and it was pretty serious too. We were trying to think of a way to tell you and your sister but it turns out we didn’t have to anymore.”

“But you’re telling me about it now…”

Craig couldn’t believe it. Everything the weird and mysterious man had told him last night was coming true. It was becoming Craig’s reality that his father was no longer sick and suffering but rather, instead, he was doing better. 

“We finally worked up the courage to say something when it turns out we didn’t even need to. However it felt right for us to still let you know about dad’s situation.”

Craig sat there completely stunned as he tried his best to fully comprehend the situation he was being faced with. The words of the man he met last night still ringing loud and clear in his head.

_ “By this time tomorrow your father will be as healthy as a horse.” _

He couldn’t believe that that man had somehow miraculously cured his father’s sickness. It was an amazing miracle that Craig had come to witness, and he was having an incredibly difficult time trying to believe all of this to be true.

“Craig? Honey, is everything alright?”

“I uh… yeah. I- I’m fine…”

He placed his silverware on his plate and wiped at the corners of his mouth with his napkin. Coming to terms with the fact that his father was sick had proven to be difficult, but coming to terms with the fact that he was now better was even harder for Craig to deal with.

“I’m going out,” he stood rather abruptly as he tried his best to avoid eye contact with either of his parents.

He turned on his heels hastily and began making his way out of the kitchen when he felt a strong hand grip at his shoulder.

“Hey hotshot, help your mother clean up will you? I have a meeting I have to attend.”

Craig stood frozen in place as he watched his father walk past him. Craig found it difficult to move, to speak, to even react. But he somehow managed to muster up enough strength to give a curt nod before turning around to clean up his mess on the table.

“Craig are you sure you’re alright?” He felt his mother place a reassuring hand on his back. And her touch made him somehow tense up even more.

But again he nodded, managing this time to speak, “I have a lot on my mind.”

“Want to talk to me about it?”

He wanted to, but at the same time he didn’t. Because it was a difficult thing he was going through with his father and with Tweek… and he wasn’t exactly sure he had the words to talk about either.

“It’s nothing serious, I’ll be alright.”

“Well just know I’m here should you ever want to talk, okay?”

Craig nodded as he placed everything in his hands into the sink and turned on the water, just watching it hit the plates for a while before turning off the faucet and exiting the room, quickly making his way up the stairs and locking himself in his room.

He wasn’t exactly sure how much time had passed him by and truth be told he didn’t really care. But what grabbed his attention was the quiet sobs coming from the living room.

He did his best to stay quiet when he opened his bedroom door, tried to stay quiet when he made his way down the stairs.

And much to his surprise he saw his mother sitting on the couch sobbing quietly. And Craig was surprised in a way, he had never seen his mother cry before. He was cautious with his approach, putting a hand on her shoulder, which in return caused her to look up at him and quickly wipe at her eyes.

“Oh, hi honey.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Huh? Oh, nothing. It’s nothing sweetheart, don’t worry about it.”

“Mom you’re crying, I know something’s wrong.”

His mother sighed in defeat and patted the couch next to her. Craig joined her, and she leaned her head on his shoulder and gripped at his hands.

“It’s your father,” she did her best to hold back her tears that threatened to fall at any given second. “He was in a car accident.”

“Come again?”

“He’s at the hospital right now but they don’t think he’s going to make it sweetheart.”

Craig sat there stunned, completely and utterly stunned. Any way he wanted to roll the dice the outcome was going to be the very same: if his father still had cancer he would’ve died and the other alternative was that this car accident could be the thing that ended up killing him.

That mysterious stranger made Craig gamble with his father’s life. And sure it may just be a weird coincidence that something like this were to happen but Craig seriously doubted that to be true.

He knew that stranger was behind all of this.

And to say that Craig wasn’t furious was an understatement. He was fuming. His body temperature was rising as he felt all of those emotions bubble up inside of him just threatening to spill out onto the surface.

“Do you want to come with me to see him?”

Craig someone managed to nod as his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down in his throat, choking back his tears in the process.

“I’ll drive,” he offered. It was the least he could do provided everything could very quite possibly be his damn fault because of some stupid deal he made with some stupid mysterious old man.

His mother rubbed his back as she grabbed her purse and handed Craig her keys, the two heading outside and into the car.

The ride to the hospital was awkward, silent. The only noise was his mother’s silent sniffles as Craig but the inside of his cheek to hold back whatever he was feeling. Because he didn’t like this feeling.

And he hated hospitals even more.

He sat in the car for what felt like ages as his mother placed a hand on his knee, “do you want to come in with me?”

“I can’t. Not right now… but I’ll be in soon enough.”

His mother gave his knee a tight squeeze before leaning over and giving her boy a kiss on the cheek, “just text me when you decide to come in.”

He nodded, gripping the steering wheel a little tighter as he watched his mother disappear through the doors and into the building.

Craig closed his eyes and dropped his head down to rest on his forearms, groaning loudly only to jolt up at the sound of tapping on the window.

His sadness turned to anger and his eyebrows knitted together in a fit of rage as he opened the door hastily and slamming it harshly.

Anger flooded over his features as his hands became tight fists, knuckles turning white as he started to seethe.

“You,” he pointed at the mystery man. “What the hell did you do?”

“Me?” The man chuckled to himself as he tucked his hands into his pockets. “Why, I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“My dad is laying in a hospital bed dying because of you! Now tell me what exactly you did!”

The man offered up a smile, a menacing and evil smile that made a cold chill run down Craig’s spine.

“I did exactly what I said I was going to do, I cured his cancer. What happened after that was… up to the universe.”

Craig had to control himself, be careful not to cause a scene. And it was proving to be incredibly difficult to not do.

“I want you to stay away from me.”

“Well you see, I can’t do that.”

“And why the hell not?”

“Because I upheld my end of the bargain by curing your father’s cancer so now it’s time you uphold your end of the deal.”

Craig’s heart stopped. His blood ran cold. As much as he wanted to say he didn’t remember bargaining away his soul at the cost of his father’s life he did. He remembered this man saying that to him.

Craig Tucker had messed up.

He had messed up so badly that he probably couldn’t weasel his way out of this terrible mistake. Because he couldn’t do that to his father. He would feel awful about it… but he felt awful about this decision too.

“When I need you, I’ll call upon you to be my rider.”

“Excuse me?”

The man gave him a smile, his face contorting into that of a demon that Craig nearly missed as it happened so fast.

“I’ll see you soon Craig Tucker.”

“You son of a-“ he took a swing, the man disappearing before him and Craig falling forward onto the pavement as a look of bewilderment washed over him.

He rubbed his knuckles, eyes scanning the surrounding area as he stood and brushed himself off. 

“Damn.”

With one more look he made his way over to a bench and sat, not wanting to face to reality of his actions. Feeling to ashamed to look at his mother and too disappointed to go see his father.

Craig Tucker, at that moment, felt like a first class fuck up. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this story a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Craig pulled up the hood of his jacket, too little too late as his hair was already soaked, and carried on, hands going into his pockets as he kicked at a pebble with his boots.
> 
> Everywhere he looked he could swear he could see _his_ reflection staring back at him, swear he could see that devious smile that lined his features before he disappeared… that smile would forever haunt Craig in his nightmares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my main and my writing Tumblr accounts :
> 
> Main : https://masked-vigilante.tumblr.com/
> 
> Writing : https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/

It had been hours of sitting outside. It had started to rain and Craig found himself soaked, his hair sticking to his forehead but his mind already too far gone as he scrolled mindlessly through his phone.

The sound of heels on the concrete approaching him pulled him from his trace. He looked up from the dim screen of the phone in his hand and noticed his mother approaching him with a forlorn look on her features, her blonde hair only slightly wet as she had been inside all this time.

“Craig,” she placed a gentle and loving hand on her son’s shoulder, her manicured nails grabbing at the fabric of his shirt as she gave a light squeeze. “Let’s go home.”

He couldn’t look up at her. He felt too guilty and responsible for everything that had happened that was causing his life to slowly spiral downward.

Instead he offered his mother a nod and he stood up, pulling the car keys from his pocket. He started walking, not even waiting for his mother to keep up with him.

Craig wanted to leave, he wanted out of this terrible agreement that was eating him up inside and slowly destroying his life and his mental state as he knew it.

“Craig,” his mother grabbed his arm and spun him around to face her before he had the chance to get into the car. “What’s wrong with you?”

He finally caught her eyes with his own and the look of sadness and confusion that filled her features just caused Craig to crack. He leaned forward and placed his forehead on his mother’s shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her in a tight hug

“Hun?”

He felt his mother gently touch his back, felt her tangle her fingers into his hair and all around comfort him in a way that only a mother could.

“Sweetheart what’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry…” he grabbed at her shirt, quietly sobbing, “I’m so sorry.”

“What for?”

“Everything.”

Laura pushed him up, wiped at his tear streaked cheeks with her thumbs and kissed his forehead, “Craig you have absolutely nothing to be sorry for.”

She didn’t know the whole story. She could say that all she wanted but in all actuality it was, in fact, Craig’s fault that all of this had happened. Her words were comforting to an extent but they were cutting through his heart like a hot knife.

“I have everything to be sorry for…” he mostly grumbled, “I wasn’t there for you.”

She pulled him back in for another tight hug and rubbed his back, “it's a lot to deal with sweetheart. Please,  _ please _ don’t let this eat away at you.”

“But-“

“No buts. Regardless of you not going into that hospital room with me doesn’t mean anything. Everyone grieves differently honey and so long as you’re here for me when I need you then that’s all I can ask for as your mother.”

He nodded slowly, understanding his mother’s words with careful consideration. There were so many things that he wanted to tell her, that he wanted to confess… but he knew she wouldn’t understand, knew that she wouldn’t believe him.

So the only thing he could do now is just go along with what his mother was saying, silently nod in agreement while his own trouble ate away at him just under the surface of his skin while every bone in his body burned and the blood flowing through his veins felt like absolute fire. 

“Thank you.” He did his best to muster up a smile to let his mother know that he was alright, even though he was faking it.

His mother took the keys from his hands and lead him over to the passenger side door, opening it and helping her son in, “I’ll drive home.”

He managed to nod as he shut the door, his mother walking back over to the driver’s side door and getting in.

“We’re going to be okay,” she placed a hand on his knee and gave it a light squeeze. “And dad’s going to be just fine.”

“I hope so…” he kept his gaze out of the window, watching everything pass him by, watching as the rain continued to fall around him.

He leaned his head against the glass and closed his eyes, listening to the rain hit the windows, listening to thunder in the distance.

But he couldn’t stay asleep for long, images of the strangers face flashing through his mind. That sinister demonic smile that caused him to jolt awake, “ _ fuck _ .”

“Craig, honey, what’s wrong?”

“Just…” he did his best to steady out his breathing, did his best to focus on something other than what he had just seen, “nothing. It’s nothing… I’m fine.”

Laura looked him over, biting her bottom lip, trying her best to offer a smile while also holding back all the things she wanted to ask him. She knew that in due time Craig would come around and open up… but she couldn’t force that. It would need to be on Craig’s own terms and Laura could accept that. But she also wanted to make it known to her son that she was there for him. 

“Can you drop me off here?” Craig pointed to the intersection up ahead, glancing over at his mother with puffy hazel eyes.

“Why?”

“I just… I want some fresh air is all.”

Laura understood, to a certain degree anyway. She was going to let Craig deal with his emotions in his own way, which is exactly why she pulled over to let her son out.

“Don’t stay out too late, okay?”

He nodded as he shut the door, not giving his mother a second glance as he started making his way down the street with absolutely no idea as to where he was going to go.

But he figured anywhere would be better than just sitting at home wallowing in his self pity.

He watched his mother drive away, watching her slowly get further and further away from him as he made his way down the street. He looked at his surroundings, nodding slowly when a destination idea finally came to mind.

Craig pulled up the hood of his jacket, too little too late as his hair was already soaked, and carried on, hands going into his pockets as he kicked at a pebble with his boots.

Everywhere he looked he could swear he could see  _ his _ reflection staring back at him, swear he could see that devious smile that lined his features before he disappeared… that smile would forever haunt Craig in his nightmares.

He shook his head, doing his best to rid his brain of the image that was slowly creeping in.

He grabbed at the insides of his jacket pockets, bit down rather hardly in his bottom lip until he could taste the coppery blood linger in his mouth.

But before he knew it he was standing exactly where he wanted to be, standing in front of his best friend’s house, silhouettes of two figures apparent behind the curtain.

Craig almost walked away, but it was wet and he was cold and he needed a friend. He needed to vent and discuss everything that was happening as of late. So he knocked a few times and hoped he would be acknowledged.

Footsteps were heard coming his way on the other side of the door. And that was good. Within seconds a blonde woman stood there, offering a smile that quickly faltered when he saw his distressed face.

“Craig?”

He nodded.

“What're you doing here? Come inside out of the cold,” she grabbed hold of Craig’s wrist and pulled him inside, kicking the door shut before leading him over to the couch and wrapping him up in a blanket.

“Hey buddy,” Clyde offered up a smile as he made his way out of the kitchen. “What brings you here?”

“He’s clearly upset Clyde!” His girlfriend, Bebe, chimed in as she pulled Craig towards her, allowing his head to rest on her shoulder as she rubbed his arm. “Be more considerate for your friend!”

Clyde sat quickly at Craig’s side, his expression softening, then dropping to match Craig’s. “What’s up dude?”

“Got a lot of my mind, needed to get away for a little while so I decided to come here… but I can leave if you’re busy.”

“Can you come back in an- ow!” Clyde rubbed at his head as he glared at his girlfriend who was staring daggers at him. “No, you’re fine dude.”

“What’s wrong Craig?”

Craig bit the inside of his cheek, contemplating whether or not he wanted to discuss his issues with his friend and his girlfriend.

But he had no one else to turn to at this moment, and perhaps it would make him feel better. However, they may not understand his predicament. They may not understand the guilt that was washing over him and eating away at him.

But perhaps it was worth a shot.

“My dad…” he started slowly as he moved several strands of wet hair out of his face, “he was in a really car accident so now he’s laying in a hospital bed fighting for his life…”

“Oh no,” Bebe gave his shoulder a squeeze.

“Dude,” Clyde placed a hand on Craig’s knee. “I’m so sorry.”

“And I feel so fucking guilty about it, like it’s all my fault.”

“It’s not your fault Craig, you can’t predict these types of things to happen.”

She was wrong. Bebe didn’t know the truth behind all of this, and perhaps she never would since Craig would never tell her. But he had to do his best to hold back his retort. Had to do his best to not let them know that everyone really was all Craig’s fault because he was a stupid teenage kid who made some stupid deal with some unknown stranger as he tried to hope for the best possible outcome.

“She’s right buddy,” Craig caught a glimpse of Clyde staring at him out of the corner of his eye and the sorrow he could see in his friend’s eyes just made his chest tighten. “What happened to your dad was an accident. I know it sucks and it hurts and you want to take the blame for it but that isn’t going to fix it. It was an accident, and a horrible one at that, but you can’t let it destroy you like this.”

Craig licked over his lips before standing, keeping his back to his best friend and his girlfriend as he bit at his bottom lip once more.

Their words had helped, but they somehow only made him feel so much worse about himself that he could barely even stand it.

“Dude go home,” Clyde placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure your mom and your sister would really love to have you there right now.”

“He’s right. You shouldn’t be grieving on your own Craig, and you especially shouldn’t be letting your mother and sister suffer on their own either.”

He let out a heavy sigh before finally turning around and embracing his friend in a hug. And it caught Clyde off guard, simply because Craig Tucker was not a hugger. But it made Clyde realize that in this moment Craig was feeling a lot of things and knowing that his friend was there probably meant a lot to him.

“I’m here if you need me man.”

“I am too,” he felt Bebe hug him from the side. And honestly, that feeling helped him to relax. “Just text or call if you need someone to just listen.”

“Thanks.” Craig pulled away from them both and made his way to the door without giving either of them a second glance, “I appreciate it.”

“Do you want a ride home?”

“Nah, I’m okay.”

Truth be told talking to his friend helped a little bit. But it wasn’t enough to help settle his nerves or enough to stop his racing heart. It was still a lot to deal with and leaving tomorrow felt like the lowest thing he could do to his family, but he made a promise to Tweek.

And he wasn’t about to let him slide through his grasp. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this story a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was taken in the springtime in one of the local gardens. Tweek has a huge smile on his face, a butterfly was in his shoulder and the two had on flower crowns they had bought from a vendor.
> 
> And of course Craig had to have on his jacket. The jacket he let Tweek wear. The jacket that he was going to let him keep. The very same jacket Tweek currently had in his possession amongst all of his other things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my main and my writing Tumblr accounts :
> 
> Main : https://masked-vigilante.tumblr.com/
> 
> Writing : https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/

Craig arrived home just as Tricia was rushing in the house, the front door slamming behind her and disappearing inside. 

Craig brushed his semi dry bangs aside and gave a slight nod to his sister’s friend’s mother as he passed by her to make his way inside. 

He pulled his hoodie off over his head and hung it on the coat rack his mother kept by the door and pulled off his shirt as it was just as soaked as every other article of clothing he was wearing before pulling off his boots.

He could’ve followed the sound of his mother and sister’s voices coming from the kitchen but he opted against it, instead heading upstairs as quietly as he could to not disturb them… but his efforts were futile and he was discovered.

“Craig?”

“Yeah.”

His mother made his way out of the kitchen, leaning against the archway and looking up at her oldest child. She held out a hand upon noticing the shirt hanging over his shoulder and the water droplets rolling down his back, “give me that, I’ll dry it for you.”

He gave a small nod and tossed his shirt to his mother, who caught it with ease, “can I go now?”

“You’re being selfish…”

Craig’s eyes looked past his mother to see his sister standing behind her with her arms crossed. The look on her face made it evident that she was annoyed with her brother and the slight redness of her eyes obvious she was crying.

“How am I being selfish?”

“Because you’d rather be by yourself instead of being with mom!”

“Patricia, please.” Laura was quick to react and to look over at her daughter, “your brother is processing things in his own way and I get that. I respect that decision and I’m allowing him to handle this in his own way… you should too.”

Tricia’s face twisted with several different conflicting emotions before making her way past her mother, and pushing past her brother as she made her way up the stairs before slamming her bedroom door shut.

Craig’s eyes followed her before he turned his attention back to his mother. “And she’s the one who called me selfish…”

“She’s hurting, just like you are.”

“Doesn’t seem like it…”

But of course Craig knew she was right, his mother was always right. But instead he just sighed when he noticed the look on his mother's face, “can I go to my room now?”

His mother walked towards him and placed one of her hands on her son’s arm, smiling up at him. “I’ll call you down when dinner’s ready.”

He gave a slight nod and made his way upstairs without saying another word. He opened his bedroom door quickly, then kicked it shut and flopped down on his bed. He kicked off his boots, listening to them land on the wooden floor with two solid  _ thuds _ as he looked up at his ceiling that was covered in those plastic stick on glow in the dark stars that had long since faded away and lost their glow.

He should really take them down… but he couldn’t bring himself to actually make the commitment to doing so. He liked them, and taking them down would probably make his room feel a little more empty than it already was.

He pulled his phone out of his front pocket and stared at the lock screen. A small smile was spreading on his face at the memory.

It was taken in the springtime in one of the local gardens. Tweek has a huge smile on his face, a butterfly was on his shoulder and the two had on flower crowns they had bought from a vendor.

And of course Craig had to have on his jacket. The jacket he let Tweek wear. The jacket that he was going to let him keep. The very same jacket Tweek currently had in his possession amongst all of his other things. 

The smile on Tweek’s face was so pure, so genuine… and Craig was forever greatful that he managed to also catch the pure joy and happiness on his face. Everything was so in the moment that it was a time in his life that Craig would absolutely never forget. 

Craig was looking forward to leaving, having Tweek on the back of his bike as they rode off to elsewhere to finally live their lives and be together without anyone to stand in their way. And he knew it to be insensitive to still plan on leaving while his family was suffering… but Tweek was important to him. Tweek was the most important person in his life and he most certainly wasn’t about to let him go.

He unlocked his phone quickly and typed up a message to Tweek. It was vague, and a pretty boring message but he just wanted to talk. He wanted to say anything and everything while his thoughts were still circulating in his head.

_ ‘Hey.’ _

_ ‘Hi Craig!’ _

_ ‘Can I tell you something?’ _

_ ‘Yeah, anything!’ _

_ ‘My dad is in the hospital… he got in a car accident earlier.’ _

_ ‘Holy shit Craig! Is he okay?!’ _

_ ‘I don’t know…’ _

_ ‘But it made me realize that life is precious and that I love you and I never want to lose you.’ _

Craig waited for what felt like an utter eternity as he waited for Tweek to respond to him. He knew he shouldn’t overthink it, he knew that he was most likely busy. But there was a part of Craig that was just dying slowly as he waited.

Eventually he stood and took off his pants, pulling the fabric from his skin as it stuck to him. He groaned in annoyance and tossed them aside before rifling through his dresser drawers and pulling out an old pair of sweats and a t-shirt before making his way back over to his bed.

And just as he did so his phone screen lit up with a message from Tweek.

_ ‘I just finished packing for tomorrow.’ _

_ ‘Are you sure you still want to do this?’ _

Craig could understand Tweek’s concern, he could understand why he was asking him such a thing, and Craig was sure Tweek would understand if he had a sudden change of heart and told him no… but Craig had made up his mind. He was going to do this, he was going to leave with Tweek and continue to carry on with his life with the person he loved more than anyone else in the whole world.

He didn’t hesitate when it came to answering. Craig already knew what his answer was, what his heart and his mind were telling him, way before any of this started. He knew exactly what he was doing when he asked Tweek to run away with him. And his answer was always going to remain the exact same. 

_ ‘I’m sure.’ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this story a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was an early hour when he found himself awake, packing the last minute essentials that he planned on taking with him such as his phone charger, deodorant, and several other smaller things that he shoved into his bookbag.
> 
> He had an overriding feeling of guilt wash over him as he stood from his bedroom floor and put his backpack on his back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my main and my writing Tumblr accounts :
> 
> Main : https://masked-vigilante.tumblr.com/
> 
> Writing : https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/

What he was doing was stupid and selfish, and Craig knew that. Of course he knew that. He wasn’t thinking about his mother, his sister or, hell, even his father when he decided to run off to the city with Tweek. These were his needs and his wants. He wanted Tweek to stay in his life. He wanted Tweek to stay with him. It was always all about him and no one else.

But he had just finished packing up the last of the things that he felt he would need for when the day came for the two to run away and leave everything behind.

He had stayed up late into the night checking, double checking, and even triple checking everything before he finally allowed himself to get a few hours of peaceful sleep.

If you were to ask him what time he ended up falling asleep he would tell you that he didn’t know. If you asked him how many hours of sleep he actually got he would probably shrug and, once again, say he didn’t know.

That wasn’t anything new, however. Craig was used to making it through his day running on little to no sleep. He was used to spending time spending time outside fixing his motorcycle under the moonlight.

But that was beside the point.

It was an early hour when he found himself awake, packing the last minute essentials that he planned on taking with him such as his phone charger, deodorant, his wallet, and several other smaller things that he shoved into his book bag.

He had an overriding feeling of guilt wash over him as he stood from his bedroom floor and put his backpack on his back.

But he, of course, shrugged it off.

He grabbed his keys off his dresser and made his way down the steps, hurrying his way out of the door and to his bike before his mother could notice him.

And it proved to be successful. He could hear her quietly humming to herself just before he slipped out the front door and over to the side of the house, right on the side of the garage. 

Craig bit his lip as he kept glancing back inside the window nearby, seeing his mother busying herself in the kitchen with breakfast, or so he assumed. But he told Tweek they were doing this. He wasn’t about to back out of his plans just because of a small setback with his father. He had to do this… otherwise he would lose Tweek forever. 

And this had to happen because Craig was selfish.

He secured his bag to the back of his bike for when he was ready to head out, then made his way back inside and into the kitchen.

“Hey,” he greeted his mother casually as he sat at the table.

And he didn’t mean to scare her. Matter of fact he felt bad when he saw her jump a little bit at the sound of his voice.

“Oh, sweetheart, you startled me,” she looked over her shoulder at her son as she offered up a small smile. 

“Sorry…”

Laura opened the fridge and pulled out the orange juice, then opened the cupboards and grabbed a glass before setting the two in front of her son. She gave him a kiss to the top of his head and sat down beside him.

As he poured himself his drink he kept his eyes on his mother, taking occasional glances down at the cup as to not make it overflow.

“Are you doing alright?”

“Sweetheart I’m fine,” she placed a hand on his arm and gave a gentle squeeze, “but I appreciate you asking.”

“Have you heard anything about dad?”

“No ye-“ it was as if the universe knew. The phone started to ring right at that very moment. But of course Craig was assuming, it could’ve been anyone calling.

Laura stood and made her way over, answering it with hesitation, “hello?”

The smile on his mother’s face faltered a little and Craig took notice in how her demeanor also seemed to shift.

“Yes of course…” Craig could see the tears beginning to roll down her cheeks, “I’ll be there as soon as I can be…”

She hung up just as slowly as she had answered. She gripped at the counter and kept her head down, kept her back to her son and sobbed softly in hopes of Craig not hearing.

But she was so wrong to think she could hide it from her boy. Craig knew. He could hear her quiet tears hitting the sink as they fell from her eyes, he could hear her quiet sniffles, so he stood up slowly and placed a hand on his mother’s shoulder, “mom?”

His mother leaned into his touch before turning around and wrapping her arms around Craig’s waist, before burying her face in his chest and letting the tears fall a little more freely.

“Mom?”

“It’s your dad sweetheart,” she managed to look up at him. Managed to look Craig in his eyes that reminded her so much of her husband’s, “he- he didn’t make it.”

“Wait so dad is…?”

Craig couldn’t say it. It would be even more real if he managed to actually say the word that he had been dreading for far too long.

So instead he gripped at the back of his mother’s shirt and held her in a tight hug for what felt like an everlasting eternity.

But the most messed up thing about the whole situation was that Craig didn’t cry. He didn’t show any form of emotion at all. It was weird for him to feel this stoic and this numb. He almost felt like a monster.

Almost. 

“Craig, hon, I have to go to the hospital. Can you call your- Craig?” He was making his way outside without a single word, leaving his mother standing alone in the kitchen. “Craig?”

She followed after him, but the front door slammed in her face, and he didn’t mean for that to happen. But it did, and he felt awful about it. 

He practically ran over to his bike when he heard his mother open the front door… and it was at that moment that rain droplets started to fall from overhead. 

He should’ve taken this as an omen of sorts, but he didn’t. He just needed to get away, go anywhere that wasn’t here. He couldn’t deal with having to handle his grieving mother or his sister.

Because, once again, Craig Tucker was selfish. He was a monster.

But he let the engine of his bike roar to life before he taking off, but not before giving his mother a forlorn look as they stared at each other from their respective places. He hated that he was doing this but he just couldn’t bring himself to back out of it.

He didn’t look back. He didn’t even seem to care.

All he wanted to do was get away, he wanted to leave and try to forget everything that was happening. Because soon everything would be okay. Soon he would be with Tweek and everything would be okay and he wouldn’t have a care in the whole damn world.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been riding for, but one thing that he did know what that the rain was falling even harder than before. He was soaked, his hair was sticking to his forehead, water droplets were rolling down his face, and his clothes were sticking to his body. 

But when the lightning flashed in front of him he panicked, he went to turn and skidded against the pavement at the quick motion. His bike went off the road, the engine still roaring with life as the front wheel turned even in the ditch the bike rested in and Craig rolled briefly on the pavement, landing right at the feet of the man he didn’t want to see today, or tomorrow or ever again.

“Hello Craig,” the man smiled down at him before extending a hand to help the young man up to his feet. “You’re no good to me dead you know.”

But Craig wasn’t going to take the bait. He pushed himself up and kept his distance as he pointed an accusing finger at the man who seemed to bring him nothing but misfortune.

“You killed him,” Craig was furious. His emotions were finally shining through as he narrowed his eyes and stared the man down with a fierce intensity of hatred and malice.

But instead all he did was smile at the teenager, “I cured his cancer, that was our deal. Everything else just so happened to be a coincidence.”

“You son of a bitch,” Craig lunged forward, ready to throw a punch. But instead he was swinging at air, falling forward and hitting the pavement once more. He stood quickly and turned, only to face a vast array of nothingness besides the open rod and the trees that surrounded it.

“One day, when I need you,”Craig turned again and this time he came face to face with the demon who followed him which caused him to jump. “I will come. Until then I’ll be,” he held his hand on Craig’s chest, “I’ll be watching.”

Craig let out a gasp as his head tilted back and his body leaned into the touch. His veins glowed a fiery red under his skin and his eyes started to smoke. It was a weird feeling, almost as if his whole body was doused in flames.

“Forget about friends,” the man whispered to him, slowly making his way in a circle around the teenager, whose eyes followed his every movement. “Forget about family.”

The pain Craig was feeling coursing through his body only continued to get worse, his skin burning and his insides feeling as if they were on fire.

“Forget about  _ love. _ ”

The man stopped walking, standing behind Craig and letting his hand rest right between the young man’s shoulder blades. He leaned in close to his ear, keeping his voice a little lower than usual, “you’re mine Craig Tucker.”

He gave Craig a swift poke to the back and caused him to fall forward onto his knees. His veins giving one final red glow before slowly fading to nothing as Craig started to breath heavily, as he tried to recompose himself altogether. But when he felt good and ready he stood up, his eyes looking every which way to try and catch a glimpse of the man who was ruining his very existence… all because of some stupid deal Craig has made with him. 

Craig Tucker was left standing alone at a fork in the road while the rain continued to fall around him.

So he did the only thing he knew how to do. He brushed himself off, picked up his bike and continued to ride.

And he rode until he reached the tree just outside of town that he and Tweek has decided to meet at.

He could see Tweek standing there, hair wet and sticking to his face, a bag on his back and one on his shoulder. He smiled brightly at the black haired man, but Craig… Craig didn’t smile back. Instead he just stared, an emotionless and cold look on his face… and Tweek’s smile faded when he realized Craig wasn’t coming to greet him. When he realized that Craig wasn’t turning off his bike.

But what really broke his heart was when Craig started to ride away without even looking back, leaving him standing there alone in the rain with a false sense of hope and a plan that had been crushed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> So a couple of things today!
> 
> Thing number 1... we’ve reached the end of the first part of this story! The next time you see Craig he’ll be a little older, a little gruffer and a bit more stoic.
> 
> Thing number 2... I’m updating my writing blog more often with everything I write. Prompts / Requests are also open there as well!
> 
> It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this story a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was an elongated, awkward silence that filled the air surrounding the two of them. As the years passed them by their friendship seemed more strained, like they had somehow managed to drift apart.
> 
> Which they did… in a way… after Craig’s whole disappearing act when he was eighteen after his dad had passed the two had lost contact, rekindling their friendship three years later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my main and my writing Tumblr accounts :
> 
> Main : https://masked-vigilante.tumblr.com/
> 
> Writing : https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/
> 
> I’m accepting writing prompts over on my tumblr page so feel free to suggest some things!

He opened his eyes slowly as the morning sun shone through his eyelids. He groaned to himself and rolled into his side, his back now facing the window, and he pulled his blanket up a little further then before. 

“Buddy!” The door to his room burst open and a brunette man came rushing inside, a folder under one arm and an energy drink in hand, “you got the gi-“ his eyes were fixated at the man laying under copious amounts of blankets, “Craig?”

“Sleeping, go away.” It was obvious to tell that he was sleep deprived. That he was barely awake and functioning right now. 

“But dude you-  _ ow! _ ” Clyde looked at the pillow that sat by his feet as he rubbed at his face. “Why are you being rude?”

He lifted a hand and gave Clyde the bird as he grumbled, “sleep! Go!”

Clyde rolled his eyes and quietly made his way over to his friend’s bedside. With a careful glance he could tell that Craig’s eyes were closed, that he wasn’t paying him any attention.

Which made this plan even more stupid.

Clyde put the things in his hands aside on Craig’s disaster of a night stand and in one fluid motion Clyde pulled the comforter off his friend and onto the floor, “you got shit to do today buddy. Up and at ‘em!”

Craig sat up in a flurry of motions, staring daggers at Clyde, and the brunette swore he could see a fire burning in his friend’s pupils, “listen fucker-“

“No! You listen to me!” Clyde shocked himself at the sudden bolt of confidence that washed over him. At the way his voice got a little louder and how he watched Craig sink back down onto the bed and crossed his arms like a child getting in trouble. “You’ve been a dick to me lately and that’s not cool dude! I’m your friend… I deserve to be treated better.”

He watched how Craig grabbed a balled up black t-shirt off his bedside table, give it a good sniff and put it on.

“Okay first off, ew…”

Craig rolled his eyes as he stood, cracking his back as he walked to his attached bathroom, shutting the door behind him. 

“And second, what’s up with you lately?”

When Craig emerged from the bathroom he had pants on and a pair of old black converse that had most certainly seen better days. The tattoo on his shoulder poking out slightly under the sleeve of his shirt and the chain of his necklace peeking out from under the collar.

“Nothing, I’m fine.”

Craig ran his fingers through his hair to remove any knots or tangles that resided there from his damn near sleepless night. The bags under his eyes a little more prominent than usual and the noise his stomach made let Clyde know that his friend was hungry.

“Have you eaten?”

“Not since lunch yesterday.”

“Jesus man!”

Craig chuckled quietly to himself as a small smirk spread across his face. He was thankful that Clyde couldn’t see it. There would be one too many questions involved and Craig did have the time, nor the patience, to answer any of them.

“You need to eat!”

Craig shrugged and grabbed his leather jacket out of his closet, “I mean I guess so?”

There was an elongated, awkward silence that filled the air surrounding the two of them. As the years passed them by their friendship seemed more strained, like they had somehow managed to drift apart.

Which they did… in a way… after Craig’s whole disappearing act when he was eighteen after his dad had passed the two had lost contact, rekindling their friendship five years later when Clyde and Token accidentally bumped into Craig at motocross event Clyde managed to win tickets to through a radio station.

Token was polite, but Craig could tell he had ruined that friendship for the most part. But Clyde was persistent, always trying to chat his ear off to get back to where they once were.

It was rocky at first, Craig distant and distracted no matter how hard Clyde tried. But they were somehow just barely holding on to what they had left of their thirty two year long friendship.

“Craig, dude, what’s bothering you?”

Craig’s eyes drifted towards the calendar he had on his wall, staring for a while before casting his gaze downward and looking at his shoes while he pulled a loose thread from his shirt.

Oh.

Clyde understood.

His eyes had followed Craig’s, noticing the day on the calendar was crossed off with a giant black ‘X’. It was  _ that _ day.

The day that Craig was a selfish, rebellious teenager who made a stupid decision.

The day he ruined his relationship with his mother, his sister and his friends. The day the love of his life slipped between his fingers, never to be seen or heard from again.

“I- I’m sorry Craig, I-“

“Don’t, okay? Just don't…” he pushed past the brunette, making his way out into his living space before plopping down on the couch and burying his face in his hands, fingers tugging on his hair.

Clyde hurried after.

“You can talk to me about it, if you want.”

Craig shot him a look that could kill. A look that had flames ablaze in his eyes. A look that Clyde was absolutely scared of  

“Or- or not,” Clyde held up his hands in mock defense. “That’s cool too.”

“Why do you put up with me?”

Craig’s voice was quiet, and Clyde barely understood what it was that he had asked, “what?”

“Why are you still my friend? I fucked up Clyde… and yet you still continue to try and hold onto something that I completely destroyed years ago.”

Clyde made his way over to the couch, sitting down next to his childhood friend and placing a reassuring hand on his knee, which he caught Craig glancing at through the open spaces between his fingers. 

“Because you were scared. You were a kid who made a bad decision because something terrible happened, however, I wasn’t going to let that destroy our friendship.”

“I destroyed my friendship with Token… with Jimmy, and Jason… with-“

He stopped talking, sitting up and leaning back against the couch cushions as he looked up at the ceiling.

“With…”

He let out a heavy and shaky breath before glancing over at Clyde through stands if black hair that had fallen over his eyes, “with  _ him. _ ”

His name was something Craig didn’t even speak anymore. It was as clear as day that even the mere mention of him made Craig react a certain way. It was obvious to tell when Craig was thinking about him because of the way he carried himself.

Craig Tucker had something good and he destroyed it because he was being a selfish son of a bitch.

“Hey…” he could feel Clyde slightly shaking his shoulder to try and bring him back to reality, but all Craig could see was his smile, his eyes, his freckled skin and then the look of heartbreak. “Craig?”

“I fucked up…” Craig’s voice was quiet, close to a whisper, as he leaned against Clyde’s shoulder. It was the first time in what felt like years (because it kind of was) that Craig had actually opened up to him and showed the tiniest bit of emotion. It let Clyde know that he was still human, that he could still properly feel emotions.

“And I told you that I forgive you. I’m your friend man, you can’t get rid of me that easily.”

Clyde handed Craig the remote to the television as he stood up, making his way into the kitchen to find, or prepare, something for his friend to eat that wasn’t jelly beans, pop tarts, ramen… or anything else that Craig has found himself living off of for years. 

Craig turned on the tv, flipping through channels vigorously without even stopping to fully see what was even on.

But something had caught his eye a few minutes into channel surfing that caused him to go back and retrace his steps.

He sat forward, elbows resting on his knees and his hands dangled between his legs holding the remote tightly as he sat forward with wide eyes and an awestruck expression slapped across his face.

“Dude…” 

“What did you- oh dude…”

Clyde stopped what he was doing, staring at the screen and noticing the person who was there, the person that Craig was so fixated on.

A familiar shade of blonde hair, big blue eyes, freckles… that voice.

Clyde had never rushed for the remote faster in his life.

But Craig wouldn’t let him have it. Instead he stood up, holding the remote out of Clyde’s reach as his eyes stayed locked on the screen, completely fixated on that one person in particular.

“Clyde is that-“

He knew Craig knew who that was. But he was pretty sure that he was too dumbstruck to even realize what it was he was asking.

But all Clyde could do was nod dumbly, realizing that everything would probably be so much better if he just got it over with quickly.

“That means he’s in town…”

“Yeah… actually…” Clyde was scrolling through his phone before handing it over to Craig, who stared at the screen with nothing but shock on his face as Clyde continued. “He’s covering your next event.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> Welcome to the time jump of the story (about twenty years, give or take)... I promise things will get more interesting as the story progresses.
> 
> It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this story a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was a whole lot of regret that was washing over him right now. This was a very terrible, very stupid mistake made by one Clyde Donovan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my main and my writing Tumblr accounts :
> 
> Main : https://masked-vigilante.tumblr.com/
> 
> Writing : https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/
> 
> I’m accepting writing prompts over on my tumblr page so feel free to suggest some things!

Craig flopped down on the couch, still holding Clyde’s phone in one hand while his other pinched the bridge of his nose. The voices on the television set fading to nothingness as Craig did his best to try and phase them out. 

He focused on his breathing as he kept his eyes closed. He couldn’t see  _ him _ … the way things ended was utterly atrocious and unacceptable. Craig was a complete and utter fool. What exactly did he do that caused this to happen now?

Besides the obvious thing of selling his soul to the devil at the young age of eighteen. Because that was certainly a thing that he did, and a decision that he regretted immensely.

He was kicking himself and cursing internally as he tried to wrap his head around all of this. He was about to do a race the day after tomorrow and Tweek was going to be the one who was covering the story.

He shouldn’t really be all that surprised though, because it would be just his luck that the universe would do this to him. It was always him who seemed the find misfortune in the world. 

“Craig I need you to talk to me,” he could feel Clyde rubbing his back in a reassuring way. He could feel Clyde gently pull his phone from his grasp.

“I’m not doing this,” Craig grumbled under his breath as he pushed himself off the couch and wandered into the small kitchen. 

He rummaged through the cabinets until he smirked in victory, grabbing a half empty bottle of whiskey. He didn’t bother with a glass, instead choosing to just drink it straight from the bottle.

“Dude!” Clyde wasn’t really that surprised, but the notion of Craig drinking at this hour simply wasn’t something he was going to let stand. 

He ran to his friend and grabbed the bottle, holding it tightly behind his back, “why?!”

“I can’t face him Clyde, not after how I left things between us…” Craig sounded almost broken in a way. Broken and absolutely defeated. 

“And you think drinking is going to just make your problems go away?”

Craig shrugged and leaned against the counter as he crossed his arms, looking down his nose at the brunette man standing in front of him, “if I drink enough then I don’t see why not.”

“Craig be realistic here! Maybe this whole thing with Tw-“

The way Craig glared at him made Clyde silent for a moment, stopping him before saying the rest of his name. Clyde chewed on his bottom lip for a moment before continuing, “maybe this whole thing with him is a blessing!”

“I don’t believe in miracles or anything else like that Clyde.”

“But don’t you want to talk to him, work things out?”

“I seriously doubt he’s going to want to speak to me, not after what I did to him back then. I was a damn fool Clyde and I was too blind to realize that at the time…”

Clyde could see the self hatred flooding Craig’s face, he could see the way the grip on his arms tightened at his blunt nails dug into his skin. 

“Listen,” Clyde eased his hands away from his arms before Craig got the chance to break the skin. “Tell him that. I’m sure if you just talk to him-“

“I said no Clyde.”

Craig walked past his friend, grabbing his keys off the hook by the front door and making his way outside of the apartment as he slammed the door behind him, causing the few pictures on the walls to rattle. It left Clyde letting out a long sigh as he looked at the bottle in his hands before taking a quick drink.

He hated that he was about to do this, and maybe he would regret it later, but right now it was the right thing to do. It was the only thing that seemed to make sense in his mind.

Or perhaps this was the small amount of liquor talking. 

He looked at his phone screen one last time before punching in a few numbers as he set the phone on the counter. Clyde ran a hand through his hair as he listened to the ringing echo around the otherwise quiet room.

_ “Thank you for calling Denver News, what can I help you with today?” _

“Hi, uh, can I please speak to Tweek Tweak please?”

_ “Let me see if he’s available, give me a moment.” _

He was put on hold, the god awful music filling the room. Clyde let his head hit the counter as he groaned in annoyance. He couldn’t believe that he was actually doing this. It felt like he was betraying the fragile amount of trust that he and Craig shared with one another.

But then the music stopped and Clyde heard shuffling on the other end of the phone, then breathing.

_ “Hello?” _

“Tweek, hey hi! I know you may not remember me but-“

_ “Who is this?” _

“It’s me.. it’s-“ he took a deep breath, “it’s Clyde.”

_ “As in Clyde Donovan?” _

“The very same.”

There was a very long, very awkward silence before either of them spoke. Clyde instantly regretted this decision.

_ “Why are you calling me?” _

“Because a guy I manage is going to be at the motocross event you’re covering.”

_ “So why, exactly, does that concern me?” _

“Well…” moment of truth. Either Clyde tells him the truth now and just let everything fall out into the open… or he bite his tongue and let Tweek figure everything out on his own the day of the event.

_ “Clyde?” _

He felt himself start to become overwhelmed with an insane amount of panic. Felt guilt wash over him. That bottle of whiskey was starting to look really nice right about now.

_ “If you aren’t going to talk to me then I’m hanging up, I have a job to do.” _

“No wait don’t go!”

Another long silence washed over them as Clyde drummed his fingernails on the counter, “you have to promise me you aren’t going to get pissed off and or hang up on me.”

_ “That’s concerning but alright.” _

“It’s- it’s Craig. He’s going to be there… competing actually, and I just wanted to try and make things less awkward on your end of things since I kinda sorta told him you would be covering it…”

_ “WHAT?!” _

Regret. It was a whole lot of regret that was washing over him right now. This was a very terrible, very stupid mistake made by one Clyde Donovan. 

“Just listen to me, please? He feels terrible Tweek… it’s just constant self loathing and regretting the past. He’s a wreck.”

_ “He left me! He left me standing in the rain all alone and I haven’t heard anything from him in the past twenty years!” _

“Can you at least talk-“

_ “No, I won’t. And as a matter of fact I’m  _ **_done_ ** _ talking to you and I’m  _ **_not_ ** _ speaking to him! If I have to for the sake of my job than so be it but outside of that? I’m done. Have a good day Clyde.” _

“No Tweek, wait!”

But the line was dead. Tweek already having hung up. Clyde groaned in annoyance and took a swig of the alcohol that was beside him as he slammed a fist against the counter.

He had messed up. But maybe, just maybe, he had a chance to fix his mistake. Maybe he could somehow manage to get Craig and Tweek to speak to one another. It was probably going to be a shot in the dark but it was certainly worth a try. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this story a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His peaceful ride seemed to shift. The road suddenly shifted, appearing a lot longer and narrower than he had realized it to be before. Everything around him blurred and lights seemed to pass him by as he continued to zoom past them.
> 
> But a sudden flash of that monster’s face before him caused him to swerve, to hit the brakes and flip over the handlebars as he lost control over himself and his bike.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my Tumblr accounts :
> 
> Personal : https://masked-vigilante.tumblr.com/
> 
> Writing : https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/
> 
> I’m accepting writing prompts over on my tumblr page so feel free to suggest some things!

Craig wasn’t exactly sure where he was going but he had decided to hope on his bike and just ride to wherever it was his mind decided to take him.

It was quiet, and it was peaceful. It was the perfect time for Craig to enjoy his ride on the empty road.

Occasionally he took glances to his left or his right to take in his surroundings, to see where he was in the city of Denver. And, all things considered, it had been a while since he had actually been in the city. He generally avoided anywhere close to home as often as he could.

But something caught his eye, something that caused him to turn into a parking lot and stop his mindless journey.

He stayed on his bike, stayed out of sight… but it was definitely her. He could see his mother in a shop window working on a client’s hair and talking away to someone near her. Craig couldn’t help but muster up a small smile.

He hadn’t seen his mother in years, which was his own fault, and he missed her. He wanted to go talk to her, wanted to hug her and see how she had been over the years.

But he couldn’t bring himself to do it. There was an invisible barrier that was keeping him on his bike as if he was glued securely to the seat.

So he did the next best thing.

Craig pulled his phone from his pocket and looked up the number of the salon he was looking at before dialing the number.

He couldn’t believe he was doing this. Couldn’t believe that after all these years he had somehow managed to muster up enough courage to finally call his mother.

_ “Thank you for calling Serenity Salon and Spa, my name is Katy what can I assist you with today?” _

“Can I speak to Laura Tucker please?” He didn’t mean to be so short and so abrasive but his patience was wearing thin and his confidence slowly leaving his body with each passing second.

_ “May I ask who’s calling?” _

“Just… I’m an old friend.”

He felt bad about lying, he really did, but he knew it would be better this way. And maybe it really wasn’t better but he was somehow trying to get himself to believe that bullshit so he could try and keep himself composed long enough to stay on the damn phone.

_ “One moment please.” _

And then the dressing music started. The stupid hold music that was so generic and annoying that he would be hearing it for the next few days on end no matter how loudly he would listen to his own music.

Yeah… it was just  _ that  _ annoying.

He could see his mother speaking to a woman in the window, see her tell her client something before following after the other woman. 

Moment of truth. 

After what seemed like a goddamn eternity that stupid music finally stopped playing. He heard a bit of shuffling on the other end of the line before her heard he sweet and relaxing voice.

_ “This is Laura.” _

He wanted to speak, but the words weren’t coming to him. Instead he sat on his bike with his mouth open like a fish out of water that was struggling to breathe. He swallowed a lump in his throat and ran his free hand through his hair as he shut his eyes as tightly as he could. 

_ “Hello?” _

“I-“ he knew she could hear him breathing. Hell, he could hear himself breathing. 

_ “If this is a prank I would advise you to not call here any longer unless you have business to conduct with us. Have a good day.” _

And then the line went dead. The beeping of a dead line filling his ears as he pulled his phone away from his ear and ended the call before resting his arms on the handlebars of his bike and throwing his head down in frustration.

He had probably just ruined the one opportunity he had to speak to his mother again. But it felt good to hear her voice again. It had been far too long and he missed it. He missed her. And he would forever be angry with himself for what he did that one stupid day all those years ago that ruined everything for him.

He put his phone into his pocket and lifted his head slightly to see his mother had returned to her station within the salon. Even from the distance he kept he could tell that she was aggravated.

He took that as his cue to leave.

So Craig let his bike roar to life as he took off out of the parking lot and back onto the freeway. He could see the people in the cars that passed him smile, wave and take pictures. The look of excitement that crossed their faces caused him to grin as he continued to ride, occasionally waving in their direction.

And as much as he wanted to stop and take in the wonders of Denver Colorado he knew he shouldn’t. He knew he should get back to the comfort of the apartment he and Clyde were sharing while they were here.

Which is what he did.

He made a quick turn, where he really shouldn’t have been turning in the first place, and started to head back to the other side of town.

But his peaceful ride seemed to shift. The road suddenly shifted, appearing a lot longer and narrower than he had realized it to be before. Everything around him blurred and lights seemed to pass him by as he continued to zoom past them.

But a sudden flash of that monster’s face before him caused him to swerve, to hit the brakes and flip over the handlebars as he lost control over himself and his bike.

His bike skidded on the pavement somewhere in front of him as he rolled into the grass. His vision fuzzy as he stopped, lifting his head slightly to take in his surroundings.

_ “Hey isn’t that Craig Tucker?” _

_ “I think he’s hurt!” _

_ “Someone call an ambulance!” _

He could see the blurry outlines of people surrounding him, he could hear their voices, he could see people making sure he was okay and kneeling and standing near him. He could see cars stopping and pulling over.

Craig struggled to keep his eyes open. But the more he blinked the more he realized that  _ he _ was standing there, clear as day simply smirking at him with that stupid face of his that Craig so badly wanted to punch.

And as he reached forward he felt himself slowly giving into the hurt and the pain he was feeling. He felt his eyelids growing heavy and his arm feeling like jelly.

And before he could even fully register what exactly was happening everything around him went black as he had finally fallen into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this story a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Mr. Donovan who gave us permission to contact a family member in case something were to happen to you.”
> 
> “You _**what?!**_ ”
> 
> “Hey, listen… I had good reason to do what I did! What if you died?!”
> 
> Craig groaned and rolled his eyes before running a hand through his hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my Tumblr accounts :
> 
> Personal : https://masked-vigilante.tumblr.com/
> 
> Writing : https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/
> 
> I’m accepting writing prompts over on my tumblr page so feel free to suggest some things!

There were a lot of things to take in. Thing number one being the bright ass light that damn near blinded him the second he opened his eyes. Thing number two was the quiet murmuring of voices that sounded like they were close but yet… not. They sounded distant, as if they were farther away from him that he expected them to be.

But when his vision stopped being fuzzy and the lights stopped blinding him he realized he was laying in a hospital bed, a hospital bracelet adorning his wrist while he listened to the machines beep and whirl with life.

Then he heard a door open, and the voices he had heard earlier get louder.

In walked a dark haired man with a toothpick in his mouth who was holding a clipboard and-

“Clyde,” Craig practically groaned in annoyance as he threw his head back against the pillows under him.

“Buddy!” He felt Clyde wrap his arms tightly around his neck and hug him tightly as his face buried against Craig’s shoulder.

Craig let out a noise of discontent the harder Clyde squeezed. His hands went into the air and he looked towards the doctor for a little help.

So the man cleared his throat, quite loudly might Craig add, and raised an eyebrow as he stared Clyde down.

It didn’t take long for Clyde to get the hint. He pulled away and offered up a small smile and a soft chuckle, “right. Hurt… sorry.”

“So doc…”

“Christophe.”

“Right… Christophe… tell me what exactly is wrong with me.”

The doctor looked at the clipboard in his hands, not even giving Craig a second glance as he spoke, “for starters you crashed your motorcycle and when the paramedics brought you here I’ve never seen so many people in the waiting room wanting to see a patient in my entire life so kudos on that.”

Craig said nothing, instead glancing over at Clyde who simply shrugged.

“Second is, as you can see, we contacted Mr. Donovan who gave us permission to contact a family member in case something were to happen to you.”

“You **_what_**?!”

“Hey, listen… I had good reason to do what I did! What if you died?!”

Craig groaned and rolled his eyes before running a hand through his hair and looking over at the doctor, “what else?”

“Slight bruising, a couple of cuts that were incredibly minor and a sprained wrist. Honestly you’re lucky you didn’t experience a concussion or any type of damage considering you weren’t wearing a helmet. You know, for a professional motocross rider that was incredibly stupid.”

“You sound like him.”

“Perhaps you should take a hint then.”

Craig could hear Clyde stifle a laugh. He glanced over, eyes practically ablaze as he stared the brunette down, watching how he sank down in the chair he was seated in as he mumbled out a _‘sorry’_.

“You’ll be good to go in a few hours, we just want to watch you a bit longer. However,” the doctor finally looked up from the clipboard in his hands, “I would like to inform you that your mother is in the waiting room.”

“You had them call my mother?!” Craig threw a pillow in Clyde’s direction, hitting him square in the face as he grew angrier and angrier with each passing minute.

“She has a right to know if you died!” Clyde threw the pillow back, hitting Craig in the stomach.

Craig flopped back against the pillows and closed his eyes as he groaned in complete annoyance, “whatever. Just send her in…”

“Very well.”

Craig listened to the doctor leave. He heard the door close, heard his footsteps recede down the hallway until they disappeared completely.

“Craig you have to understand…”

“Save it Donovan.”

Clyde bit his lip, holding back his urge to speak and defend his actions. But he wasn’t in the mood to strike up an argument. He wasn’t in the mood to start a fight with his best friend. Clyde understood that he messed up and he would have to live with that.

But at the same time he figured this could also be a best case scenario.

Perhaps this would allow Craig and his mother to reunite with one another. Perhaps it would allow them to make up for lost time and really try to connect and become a family again.

Perhaps that would be the best thing to ever happen to Craig in a good, long while.

“Craig…”

“Save it.”

Heels clicked on the tile floor just outside the door. Craig opened an eye and glanced over to the door just as it opened. He closed his eyes tight, he waited for impact when he felt a pair of arms wrap gently around his neck.

“Craig,” it sounded like his mother was crying. “My sweet boy.” She started kissing his cheek, started running her fingers through his hair.

Craig opened his eyes slowly and placed a hand on his mother’s back, giving her a few light pats before she pulled back and looked at him. 

“Mom.”

It was weird actually seeing her after all these years. And she was acting so unaffected by everything. So nonchalant. And that’s what seemed to really bother Craig the most. He was expecting her to be furious, to be so pissed off that she would bitch him out and pull on his ear just like she did when he was younger and did something stupid.

“How could you be so incredibly stupid?!”

There it was.

“Mom I can-“

“You ran off! You left your sister and I behind right after your father died. You never called, you never visited… you just up and vanished!”

Craig looked to Clyde who simply glanced in the other direction, trying his best to avoid the daggers that were being stared at him.

“How do you think that made me feel?!”

“Mom I-“

“And come to find out I end up getting a phone call from the hospital telling me that you were here because you crashed your motorcycle? Unbelievable. I got here as quick as I could, I thought they found you dead on the side of the road somewhere and they needed me to identify your body!”

“Bit over dramatic don’t you think?”

Laura stared at her son, watching how his face was so unreadable and bare of any emotion. If Laura was being honest, it was breaking her heart in more than one way.

“You really don’t care do you Craig?”

“There’s a lot to this story that you don’t understand.”

“Oh, I don’t understand? There’s a lot _you_ don’t understand! You left! You left during an emotional time in our lives without even giving me another glance. You cut me out and you didn’t even bother to contact me. How do you think that made me feel Craig? Hmm?”

“I-“

“I’ll tell you how I felt,” she stood abruptly and gave him a smack to the back of the head.

“Ow, damn it!” He rubbed at his head while his mother stared down at him, her lower lip quivering as she tried her best to hold back her emotions. But the longer Craig stared at her the harder it got to keep herself and her emotions collected.

“I felt like a failure of a mother! Your father’s death felt like your death as well… and I went through each and every day worrying about the worst possible thing or getting a phone call at two in the morning telling me something awful happened.”

“Mom I-“

“I just wanted my son back…”

Craig found himself suddenly at a loss for words. He found himself reaching out and grabbing one of his mother’s hands tightly with one of his own and looking her dead in the eyes with a stone cold expression on his face.

“I’m sorry.”

He watched one lone tear roll down his mother’s cheek, he watched how she did her best to hold the rest back, how she tried to pretend that she wasn’t on the verge of tears.

“I fucked up. I was, _am_ , a terrible son and I’m sorry. I never should’ve done that… and- and I know I can’t change the past but I’d appreciate it if you allowed me to make up for lost time now…”

Out of the corner of his eye Craig could see Clyde nodding, smiling and giving him two thumbs up, to which Craig rolled his eyes and flipped his friend off with his free hand.

“Mom I’m sorry okay? I know I can probably never make any of this shit up to you but I’m going to at least try…”

He felt her arms wrap tightly around his neck again. He felt her bury her face in his neck. He could hear her quiet sobs.

And for some reason those things broke him.

Craig wrapped his arms around his mother, grabbing tightly onto her shirt and holding her in an embrace that he never wanted to release her from.

It had been far too long since he had a moment like this with her. And it all started because he made some stupid deal with the devil that has never actually come into light after all these years.

And he was really starting to regret every stupid decision he had made.

“That’s all I ask of you sweetheart.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> First things first, please excuse the way I wrote Christophe... I've never written him before so it's a learning process for me.
> 
> Second... It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this story a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His chest was tightening, heartbeat quickening. He felt like he couldn’t breathe. He had no idea what was happening to him.
> 
> But suddenly he started laughing. A maniacal laughter echoed around him as he looked up at the moon before finally feeling all the heat disappear. Before he felt nothing at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my Tumblr account :
> 
> https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/
> 
> I’m accepting writing prompts so feel free to suggest some things!

It had been hours but Craig was finally discharged. He walked out beside Clyde rubbing at his wrist while he kept his eyes forward. He tried his best to avoid his mother, who walked ahead of him. The noise her heels made against the tiled floor was echoing in his head, the noise making him wince every few minutes. It made him close his eyes tightly and grit his teeth together.

He tried to focus on anything and everything that wasn’t any of the surrounding noises that cluttered his mind until he felt everything becoming incredibly overwhelming, felt all the noises shouting at him and echoing even as he tried to suppress it. 

“Stop!”

His mother stopped, turned to look at him as Clyde placed a reassuring hand on his back.

“Buddy?”

“Sweetheart?”

Craig opened his eyes slowly and shrugged Clyde’s hand away. His eyes couldn’t decide who he wanted to focus on, so he instead continued to shift his gaze between the two people who now stood on either side of him.

“Just… I need to be alone.”

Craig pushed past the two of them, shoved his hands into his jacket pocket and made his way outside the hospital.

But then it occurred to him that he had no way of returning home as his bike was who only knew where. He let out an aggravated sigh of frustration as he ran a hand through his hair and the other down his face as he looked around while the moonlight illuminated his form from overhead in a sky that was filled with millions of twinkling stars. 

He was turning to last resorts but he thought against it. Reaching out to  _ him _ was going to be the last thing he wanted to do. So instead he started on his walking, just walking in whatever direction he felt like going at the time.

He made sure to go unnoticed, pulling up the hood of his jacked and keeping his hands in his pockets as the cars zoomed past on the busy road way he walked down along the sidewalk. He made sure to avoid eye contact, avoid anything that could possibly give him away to the public that surrounded him.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion the longer he walked. And after a while his mind started to feel like it wasn’t his own. His head was pounding, a massive headache overtaking him. But he decided to grin and bare it, decided to suffer through the pain. 

Because Craig Tucker was stronger than some stupid headache.

“Hello Craig.”

Craig spun around, his eyes scanning the old warehouse he found himself in. But the real question was when in the world did he find himself here?  _ How _ did he get here? How long had he been walking for? There were a lot of questions flooding his head and he wanted each and every one of them to be answered.

“You!” He pointed an accusatory finger in the man’s general direction.

He could see that stupid smirk spread in his face as he stood there, cane in hand that he held in his gloved hands.

“Nice to see you again.”

“It’s never a good day for me when you decide to show your face.”

He could hear his stupid chuckle as he slowly walked forward, making his way towards the young man.

“Remember what I told you Craig? How I would call upon you when I needed you?”

Craig said nothing, instead choosing to watch his every movement carefully. Watching how he circled around him and looked at him as if he were a fresh slab of meat.

“Can I back out of my end of the bargain?”

“Oh, I’m afraid you can’t do that Craig. We had a deal… one that you, unfortunately, can’t back out of. At least… not anymore.”

Craig grit his teeth and narrowed his eyes as he never once broke eye contact. 

“What is it you want of me then?”

“It’s my son,” the devil explained. “He’s… not all there, dare I say. He’s looking for something that could make him far too powerful and you-“

“ _ You _ .” Craig spat at him. 

“ _ You… _ ” the devil corrected at he placed a finger in Craig’s chest and pushed on his sternum,  _ hard _ , “need to stop him.”

“And how exactly do you propose I do that?” Craig pushed his finger away and swatted his hand back. The urge to grab this sack of shit by the collar of his dress shirt was increasing but Craig resisted. 

“I’m so glad you asked.”

In the distance a bike engine roared to life and within seconds the vehicle was speeding towards the two men before stopping before Craig, his eyes wide with wonder as the bike sat perfectly still while the engine roared.

He ran a hand over the handlebars, over the body of the bike, he admired the paint job and took in everything about the bike as the memories came flooding back to him.

Craig could see Tweek’s smiling face flash in his mind. Could feel his warmth as he hugged his waist and nuzzled his face into his back as they rode down open roads together. But then the look of disappointment and sadness came to mind; the look Tweek gave him when Craig decided to leave him behind.

“Where did you find this?” He looked at the devil with a look of wonder… and anger. 

“You left it in a storage unit, I figured you would want to be reacquainted after all this time apart.”

Craig stared as his brows furrowed together and the anger he was feeling becoming so much more prominent on his features.

“You will find my son…” the devil instructed, “and you will send him back to hell.”

“And what if I refuse?”

Craig’s body moved on his own as he got onto his bike, as he gripped the handlebars and revved the engine on the bike. He kicked up the kickstand and kept his feet planted firmly on the ground.

“You don’t have a choice.”

With a snap of his gloved fingers Craig’s bike decided to have a mind of its own. It took off at a speed that Craig had no control over. The tires were smoking as he rode out of the warehouse and onto the open road in town. Everything around him seemed to cycle into tunnel vision and the lights around him became nothing but a mass blur. Horns honked and cars swerved as he continued riding straight, riding through stop signs and red lights (or so he assumed) all while he held on for dear life.

His head was spinning as he tried his best to focus. His hands gripped tightly and his foot kept hitting the gas pedal, refusing to let up until eventually the bike stopped on its own, throwing him over the handlebars (he really needed to stop doing that) and rolling forward on the gravel.

He had no idea where he was when his eyes adjusted to his surroundings but he looked to be in the outskirts of Denver, somewhere nestled at the base of the Rockies.

Craig felt his insides burning as he clutched at his sides, at his chest. His jacket, his shirt. He grabbed at his hair and fell onto his knees as his body lurched forward.

He was being consumed by fire, heat washing over him as he felt his skin ripping off the bone, felt everything being charred and burned as he tried to fight it. His bony fingertips no longer gripped at his hair but instead rested against a skull. His head was spinning, his vision going black.

Craig looked at his hands, watched how the last of the flesh and muscle burned away revealing nothing but bone.

His chest was tightening, heartbeat quickening. He felt like he couldn’t breathe. He had no idea what was happening to him.

But suddenly he started laughing. A maniacal laughter echoed around him as he looked up at the moon before finally feeling all the heat disappear. Before he felt nothing at all.

Instead he stood, a skeleton of a man that no one would recognize. Not even Craig himself would recognize this… this…  _ monstrosity _ .

His head a skull, burning in a wild array of flames that danced freely with the wind that blew around him. He turned quickly and took in the bike with the empty hollow sockets of where his eyes should be, shaking his head before reaching forward and letting out a low growl from the back of his throat that made the flames in his head erupt into something even wilder.

And as he touched the body of the bike everything went up in flames. The whole thing changing before his very eyes. The handlebars shifted, the pipes contorting and the body itself shifting into something almost supernatural as supernatural as him. Skeletal hands crawled up the front of the bike and residing over the deep blue and black pearl paint and the engine roaring as flames burst from the pipes.

Craig grinned as he sat on the pleather seat, letting the engine rev before hitting the gas and taking off down the mountain road at supernatural speeds, a trail of flames following him in his wake as he laughed maniacally all the way. The speed of the wind making the flame that encompassed his skull dance wildly in the moonlight.

He wasn’t exactly where he was heading, or who exactly he was looking for but this was just the beginning of things to come. And they couldn’t possibly get any worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this story a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He felt a tap on his shoulder that caused the blonde to jump and spin around. He looked up at Craig with his hands on his hips and a disgruntled look on his face. “You scared me.”
> 
> “Sorry,” Craig shoved his hands in his pockets as he ignored those who were standing behind him and taking his picture, those who were shouting his name. Hell, he was even ignoring the other reporters who were shouting questions at him.
> 
> Because all he cared about, at this very moment, was Tweek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my Tumblr account :
> 
> https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/
> 
> I’m accepting writing prompts so feel free to suggest some things!

It was morning when Craig shuffled his way inside his tiny shared apartment. His head was on fire and everything that had happened was a blur. But the sun was high in the sky and shining brightly as rays of light illuminated the otherwise dark apartment.

Which was weird considering Craig assumed Clyde would be there somewhere running around, maybe in a blind panic trying to look for him.

But he didn’t think about it too hard. Craig closed the blinds, pulled the curtains shut and sat down on the couch. He put his head into his hands as he groaned loudly before dragging a hand down his face and glancing forward. Whatever he did last night… he would rather _not_ remember it.

However, he found himself turning on the television, maybe as a means of a distraction of sorts, but that didn’t come. Instead he was reminded of the events that happened last night, courtesy of the local news stations covering the burned trees and road signs.

The roads looked destroyed, tires track burned into the pavement from the flames that engulfed the tires on Craig’s bike.

People from local businesses that had been burned in the crossfire stood there talking to the slew of reporters who were there covering the scene.

Craig quickly changed channels, finding himself landing on another news station that was showing pictures from a traffic camera. While there wasn’t much to be made out Craig finally got a glimpse of himself, although fuzzy and pixelated, but it made his skin crawl.

That wasn’t him. That couldn’t have been him. That was a skeleton with a skull that was on fire. That was a skeleton wearing a leather jacket… _his_ jacket. And that skeleton was flipping off the camera.

Okay…

So maybe that _was_ Craig. Because, as much as he tried to forget, he remembered very clearly the monster he had become last night. And it scared him.

He flipped the channels once more before stopping on a familiar assortment of wild blonde curls and big blue eyes. He felt his heartbeat quicken in his chest as he listened to Tweek speak to a woman who looked a bit disheveled. Her voice was frantic, and sad with tiny hints of anger. But then Tweek spoke and for some reason his voice just seemed to pull him in as if he was in a trance.

_“I’m Tweek Tweak, on scene.”_

That was all Craig got before he turned off the television, threw his remote, listening to it made a _thud_ against the wall, and stood up quickly. He made his way back out the door of the apartment only to run into, okay more like bump into, Clyde.

“Oh- Craig!” The brunette threw his arms around his friend’s waist. “There you are! I was worried! Where did you go after you ran off?”

“Went on a ride.”

“Where did you get a bike?”

“My old one was in a storage unit… decided to go get it.”

“You should’ve told me! I was about to file a missing persons report!”

“Uh huh,” Craig rolled his eyes. “I’m sure you were Clyde. However if you don’t mind I was on my way out.”

“Let me come with y-“

“No.”

And with that, he pushed past the brunette and hurried down the stairs. He hopped on his bike, revved the engine a few times then sped off towards his destination before Clyde even got the chance to follow him.

* * *

 Tweek was taking it all in. Taking in the wreckage of the small roadside businesses that sat nestled amongst the mountains. It broke him seeing things like this, seeing everybody look so defeated. Damaged property was always something that managed to hurt his heart, and of course this was no different.

But the familiar roar of a motorcycle engine pulled him from his thoughts as he snapped his head forward towards the road.

The familiar looking bike came into view, and so did a mess of black hair.

Tweek stood up and made his way over to the man who got off his bike, offering nothing but a crooked smile as the blonde approached.

“Tweek.”

“What're _you_ doing here?”

“I saw this on the news…” Craig’s eyes wandered as he did his best to avoid eye contact with Tweek. “Figured I would come by and see how I could help.”

Tweek stared up at him for a moment before sighing in defeat and walking back towards his news van, Craig following closely behind.

And maybe that was a mistake. Because the second his face was seen everyone stopped what they were doing a rushed him, asking for autographs and pictures all while snapping pictures of him just standing there completely flustered by the sudden bombardment of attention. Craig should be used to this… but no matter how many years in the business he had under his belt all the attention still came as a shock. 

“Who’s the hot shot?” Tweek’s camera man, Davíd, asked as he gestured to the swarm of people.

The mention of the name ‘hotshot’ brought a small smile to Tweek’s face, even if he didn’t realize it, as he looked over his shoulder at Craig before catching himself and looking back towards his friend. “An ex-boyfriend, his name is Craig Tu-“

“He races professionally doesn’t he?!”

Tweek nodded.

“I had no idea he was your ex.”

Tweek rolled his eyes as he helped load up the van, “I try to avoid talking about him.”

Tweek was trying his best to ignore the crowd and to resist actually looking over his shoulder and while ignoring the other man carry on about Craig Tucker. Instead he choose to focus on Davíd’s voice, even if it did get drowned out with all the noise surrounding them.

He felt a tap on his shoulder that caused the blonde to jump and spin around. He looked up at Craig with his hands on his hips and a disgruntled look on his face. “You scared me.”

“Sorry,” Craig shoved his hands in his pockets as he ignored those who were standing behind him and taking his picture, those who were shouting his name. Hell, he was even ignoring the other reporters who were shouting questions at him. 

Because all he cared about, at this very moment, was Tweek. “Let’s get dinner tonight,” he offered up a smile as he finally looked Tweek in the eyes.

“Excuse me?”

“Do you still like Italian?”

“What the hell makes you think I want to get dinner with you after what you did to me?”

“Look I get it… I messed up. But let me make it up to you. Let me show you I’m different and I’m not just some stupid kid anymore.”

Tweek looked towards Davíd who simply nodded encouragingly as he finished loading up the last of his bags before shutting the back of the vehicle. 

Craig thought for a moment, leaning against the van with his arms crossed as he seemed to lose himself and ponder over a situation that Tweek couldn’t quite put his finger on.

“ _Hey_ ,” Tweek looked towards Davíd, who was tugged on the sleeve of his shirt. “ _I say you do it._ ”

Tweek grumbled as he watched Davíd walk away from him and get into the driver’s side of the vehicle. Then he turned his attention back to Craig, who merely offered him a smile. 

“Tomorrow, 6:30.” Tweek rolled his eyes. “But _don’t_ be late Craig Tucker,” he grabbed a bag at his feet before getting into the van.

“You have my word.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this story a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I hope you’re ready rider,” his eyes followed as the motorcycle rode off into the distance until disappearing from his sight entirely. His voice was quiet, almost a near whisper that could’ve disappeared with a good gust of wind. “Because I’m coming for you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my Tumblr account :
> 
> https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/
> 
> I’m accepting writing prompts so feel free to suggest some things!

He contemplated as he watched from a distance. Watched the interaction between the two, between him and those who swarmed around him like a pack of ravenous wolves about to go in for the kill. But he handled everything being thrown at him quite well. Perhaps the rider had promise.

Perhaps.

A sinister smile crossed his face was one that no one could ignore. Sharp teeth poking out over the corners of his lower lip while a red tint in his eyes seemed to almost spark to life.

This was  _ the _ rider. This was the one that his father had chosen to hunt him down and send him crawling back to the endless depths of hell. This is the rider that would be his supposed downfall.

He guessed that only time would tell about the rider’s worth, but with what he could see he guessed that he wouldn’t even stand a chance against him.

He listened to the motorcycle roar to life. Watched how the man started to ride off, coming his way. He slinked into the shadows to hide, to really watch and observe it all.

And when the rider passed he finally got a good look at him.

“I hope you’re ready rider,” his eyes followed as the motorcycle rode off into the distance until disappearing from his sight entirely. His voice was quiet, almost a near whisper that could’ve disappeared with a good gust of wind. “Because I’m coming for you.”

When he found himself alone with his target, the rider, gone is when his attention turned back to the blonde reporter in the news van that was coming his way.

He observed his face, his features. Every single little thing about him the stranger took in and engraved into his memory. “And I hope he’s ready too.”

He stepped out of his hiding place, the black shadow that once engulfed his body disappearing as the sun hit his skin as he continued to watch all the movements around him.

There was a reason Craig was warned to stay away from everyone in his life that he cared for. And perhaps in due time he was about to discover why. 

* * *

He wasted no time making his way inside the tiny apartment. And Clyde wasted no time standing up and wrapping him up in a hug tightly around the waist

“Buddy!”

Craig lightly patted Clyde on the back before gripping his shoulders and pushing him away. The brunette looked up at his friend with a look of confusion, with a hint of happiness, on his face.

“Where’d you go?”

“For a ride.”

Clyde eyed him suspiciously before making his way into the tiny kitchen to grab something out of the fridge, “you seem, I don’t know, different.”

“What the hell are you talking about Clyde?”

The brunette shrugged as he made his way over to the couch and went back to watching whatever it was he had on the television. So Craig made his way over to the recliner, kicked off his boots and glanced at Clyde.

“Be honest with me Craig,” Clyde took a sip of his soda as he turned in his seat to look at his friend. “Where’d you go?”

“I, uh, I went to go see Tweek.”

Clyde nearly choked. He started coughing and hitting his chest with a fist until he was able to compose himself well enough to actually say something. 

“You went to see Tweek?!”

Craig simply nodded.

“That’s great, right? Does it mean you’re making progress?”

“Depends on if you call a dinner date tomorrow progress or not.”

Craig had never seen Clyde stand up so quickly. He actually never expected him to grab him by the arm, pull him up and force him to follow him into his, Craig’s, bedroom.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“We have to make you look nice for your date!” Clyde pushed Craig down onto his bed before heading over to his closest and rummaging through it. He pulled out shirts, and pants, and whatever the hell else Craig has shoved into the depths of his closet.

“You do realize I can dress myself, right?”

“I’m aware,” Clyde turned and shoved a black dress shirt into Craig’s chest. “But, no offense, you kind of dress like a bum.”

Craig choose to say silent. Instead he simply rolled his eyes and set the shirt aside. If this was one of the little things that Clyde found enjoyment in then he supposed he would allow it to happen 

It was baby steps after all.

“Are these clean?” Clyde held up a pair of black jeans.

Again, Craig shrugged as he reached forward to take them. He set them on top the shirt before he eventually scooped everything up in his arms and made his way into his tiny attached bathroom. 

So Clyde made himself comfortable on the chair Craig had in his room and waited for Craig to emerge.

It only took a minute or two before the door opened. Clyde looked up from his phone and smiled brightly, “that’s what I’m talking about!”

“I look like a jackass.”

“What are you talking about? I think you look great!”

“This isn’t me though Clyde. You have to remember that this is Tweek we’re talking about… he knows how I dress…”

“Okay, yeah, but hear me out here alright?”

Craig nodded as he leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms.

“This is your first date in years! You want to make a good first, second?, impression. I understand he knows you but at the same time you want to show him that you’ve changed!”

Craig chose to say nothing as he let Clyde continue to ramble on and on about how this is good for him, and how it’s moving forward from the past and blah blah blah… it was easy for Craig to tune him out, he had gotten quite good at it over the years.

“And I- hey, did you see that?” Clyde ran to the bedroom window and peeked out through the blinds and down to the grassy little area that was nestled behind their apartment building.

“No?”

“Dude, is it just me or is the sky like… raining fire?”

Craig pushed Clyde aside and looked outside, his eyes getting wide as his eyes scanned every little inch of the the outdoor surroundings. “Mother fucker.”

“What’s this mean?”

“It means we need to get the hell out of here, and now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this story a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was a lot happening. Everything was becoming a lot of process… and that was okay! Because Clyde understood all the pressure that was being thrusted onto Craig’s shoulder. He understood everything was probably incredibly scary and weird but he knew that Craig would overcome it. Because that’s what he did best. He overcame obstacles and challenges that presented themselves to him and he faced them head on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my Tumblr account :
> 
> https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/
> 
> I’m accepting writing prompts so feel free to suggest some things in my inbox.

Clyde had no idea what was happening. Everything as of late seemed to be so incredibly unpredictable that it was making his life so much more interesting than he ever could’ve imagined.

But then again Clyde wasn’t complaining. He realized everything became crazy and chaotic ever since he and Craig started hanging out again. Everything was hectic and unknown that it made him feel so much more alive than he ever thought to be possible.

He enjoyed having Craig back in his life but sometimes all he wanted was a break. Sometimes he just wanted to sit down, relax and enjoy the finer things in life… such as time with his girlfriend, or his other friends… but he loved going on wild and crazy adventures with his best friend! He loved seeing the world and doing so many exciting things that he probably never would’ve been able to do before.

And then there was this. There was this weird, crazy shit that would happen from time to time with absolutely no explanation that would cause him to feel dizzy. It would cause him to feel so incredibly overwhelmed with a bunch of emotions that he really couldn’t describe properly and it sometimes even made him feel sick to his stomach.

He had no idea what exactly was happening. He didn’t know why Craig was shoving a bunch of shit into a bag and pushing it into his arms as he forced him out of the door but here they were. 

“But-“

“No, I need you to leave and I need you to leave right now.”

“But Craig-“

It was too late for him to finish his sentence. It was too late for him to even try and continue speaking. Craig had shut the door in his face. He wouldn’t dare knock, nor would he even try to unlock the door.

The frantic and frazzled look on Craig’s face was enough of an indication to let him know that something was making him feel uneasy. Of course, Clyde didn’t know what that something was, but he figured in due time Craig would open up to him and tell him. Because they were friends after all, and friends didn’t keep secrets from one another.

So he decided to give him space. And maybe Clyde needed space too. Because after what they just saw, hallucinogenic or not, it would perhaps be best to spend some time with his girl. And maybe this time apart would even allow Craig to get himself into the correct headspace for 1) his date, and 2) the big race he had coming up in two days.

There was a lot happening. Everything was becoming a lot of process… and that was okay! Because Clyde understood all the pressure that was being thrusted onto Craig’s shoulder. He understood everything was probably incredibly scary and weird but he knew that Craig would overcome it. Because that’s what he did best. He overcame obstacles and challenges that presented themselves to him and he faced them head on. 

But this really seemed to shake Craig to his core. He had forced Clyde out with nothing but a bag that was packed with the essentials and his car keys.

So Clyde pulled out his phone and decided to give his girlfriend a call. He listened to it ring for what seemed like forever until she eventually answered the phone.

_ “Hello?” _

“Hey babe!”

_ “Hi Clyde, how are you?” _

“Oh I’m fine, but I was wondering if you were home. I need a place to crash for a few days.”

_ “I’m at work right now but you know where the key is so go ahead and make yourself at home.” _

“Thanks babe, you’re the best!”

There was a long silence before Bebe spoke again,  _ “everything okay?” _

“What do you mean?”

_ “With you and Craig. Is everything okay?” _

“Oh yeah it’s-“ he cast his eyes up to the apartment window only to see Craig staring at him before closing the curtains. “It’s great! I just miss you is all.”

_ “Awe well aren’t you just a sweetheart! Well I’ll be home in a few hours so I’ll see you then.” _

“Alright see you then, love you!”

_ “Love you.” _

They hung up at almost the same time, Clyde being a few seconds too slow.he didn’t pocket his phone right away, instead choosing to stare at the screen saver of him and Bebe from a few months ago when the two attended a carnival. He smiled at the memory before he shuffled into his car and took off out of the parking lot and down the road into the darkness and rain... which was weird because it was sunny just moments ago.

But Clyde supposed that was just the weather doing its thing and being forever changing.

But what he didn’t see was the set of red eyes watching him as he drove off. He didn’t see the man dressed in all black standing in the shadows and smiling a wicked smile in his direction with his pointed teeth.

“A friend of the rider… how interesting.”

The black haired mystery man looked over his shoulder at a figure standing behind him. The blonde rushed to his side as the two stared onward.

“I want you to follow him, try and find out what you can about him.”

“Yes sir!” The blonde saluted as he smiled, his bubbly voice and accent filling the otherwise quiet air that surrounded them.

“Oh and Pip?” He placed a hand on the blonde, Pip’s, shoulder to stop him from slinking away into the shadows. He turned his head to look at the demon behind him with a curious expression crossing his face. “Don’t let him know you’re there.”

“Right-o Damien!”

“Good… very good. I’ll be waiting patiently for your return.”

“What will you do while I’m gone?”

“Oh,” Damien glanced up at the apartment building behind him. But more so in particular at the window where the curtains had just closed moments before, “don’t worry about that Pip… I’ve got plenty of things to do.”

“Like what, if I may be so bold and ask.”

“Well,” the demon smiled and showed off his pearly whites, “I have to find out all about our dear friend the Ghost Rider.”

Damien let go of Pip’s shoulder before placing both of his hands into the pockets of his jacket, “just don’t keep me waiting for too long… you know what happened to the last person who did that.”

Pip winced at the thought but he nodded none the less as he tried to push the thought of smoke and ash and bones aside, “I’ll be back before you can say Talley ho!”

“... Talley ho.”

Pip disappeared almost instantly after that, leaving Damien alone in the ever expanding darkness as rain drops, fireballs, fell around him.

“I’m coming for you Rider… and I hope you’re ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this story a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here he was now… doing the exact same thing he had done as a stupid teenager. 
> 
> Except for this time he was a stupid adult. 
> 
> It took him a moment before the realization actually dawned on him that he was simply repeating the motions and running away when things had become far too complicated and difficult for him to even handle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my Tumblr account :
> 
> https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/

It was a fury of motions as Craig threw clothes and a various assortment of other things into a backpack… and it felt like a case of total Deja Vu. He had done this before in the past all those years ago when he ran away from his problems, and here he was now… doing the exact same thing he had done as a stupid teenager. 

Except for this time he was a stupid adult. 

It took him a moment before the realization actually dawned on him that he was simply repeating the motions and running away when things had become far too complicated and difficult for him to even handle.

He looked at the crumpled shirt he held in his hands before tossing it back into his closet and throwing his bag off his bed, the contents spilling out onto the floor, before he grabbed two fistfuls of his hair and grit his teeth.

He couldn’t run away any more. He needed to grow up and face his problems head on. He needed to just grin and bear it. This was something that Craig had forced upon himself in all of his stupid foolishness. If it wasn’t for that stupid deal with the devil he wouldn’t even find himself in this situation. 

“What am I doing…” he kept his voice just below a whisper.

Slowly, he let go of the tight grasp he held in his hair as he made his way into his bathroom. 

His skin felt hot, the room felt hot. His insides felt like they were on fire and he just wanted it all to stop. 

In a panic, he turned on the bathroom sink to the absolute coldest it could go and began splashing his face in a hurried manner. He ran wet fingers through his hair, drank water from cupped hands. He did anything and everything he could think of in order to cool himself down and get rid of the fire he felt coursing through his body. 

Water dribbled down his chin, hit the tiled floor, hit his boots. He gripped tightly at the side of the chin and looked at himself in the mirror. Wet bangs sticking to his forehead as water rolled down his face, he grit his teeth together and stared at his reflection.

He was angry. He was frustrated.

But overall Craig was feeling a lot of different things that weren’t just anger.

He scratched his chin before giving himself a good smack across the face, staring wide eyed at himself as he saw smoke coming out of his ears. He could feel his flesh burning and he knew that  _ he _ would soon arrive.

“Not here… not now…” he ran from his bathroom. He hurriedly out on his jacket and dashed out into the kitchen as he fumbled around to try and find his keys. 

But everything became a lot all too quickly. He let out a cry of pain and agony as he fell to his knees, clutching at his hair and biting down harshly on his bottom lip.

Craig needed to push through this. He needed to make it past the pain and out of the apartment. Perhaps only then would he be able to make it past everything that was standing in his way to make it out of here alive and in one piece.

He started to crawl slowly towards the apartment door, scratching his nails against the hardwood flooring. He was so close to the doorknob. All he had to do was reach up, grab it and twist it open.

But of course it wasn’t that easy, when was anything ever that easy?

The only thing that was preventing him from achieving his goal was the fact that his whole body was on fire. That every single part of his body was screaming at him as pain flooding through his body.

Until it stopped. Everything just came to a screeching halt just as quickly as it had started, which left him bewildered. 

He stood slowly and pinched the bridge of his nose as he squeezed his eyes shut. He felt a sense of ease wash over him as he tried his damndest to wrap his head around everything that was happening.

“What the hell was that?”

“It means he’s near.”

Craig jumped at the all too familiar voice. He turned on his heels and stated the devil right in the eyes with a scowl on his face, “come again?”

“What you were feeling only happens when you’re around evil itself. My son is near and you _must_ find him before he follows through with what he has planned.”

“How exactly am I supposed to find him?” Craig made his way over to the couch and flopped down, casually keeping his eyes locked on the man standing by his kitchen table. “In case you haven’t realized this there are hundreds of thousands of people living in this state so he won’t be an easy-“

“Ah, but he will be Craig Tucker. All you have to do is pay attention to your surroundings and listen to what your body is trying to tell you.”

“Yeah but- What the hell?” Craig stood and looked around his apartment. The devil was gone just as quickly as he had appeared and it was… eerie in a sense. Craig licked over his bottom lip before running a hand through his hair and making his way back over to the couch. “Easy Craig… take a few deep breaths and calm yourself down…”

He was in this for the long haul. There was absolutely no turning back from this shitshow he had signed himself up for. All he had to do was hope and pray that he could make it through his date with Tweek without any sort of…  _ complications. _ Everything was going to be okay, all he had to do was think positively and not let any unwanted distractions come his way.

And that was probably going to be easier said than done but a guy could certain dream for the best case scenario, right?

There was a lot riding on this. There was a lot riding in every little choice Craig made from here on out. 

He let out a long sigh before making his way to his kitchen, grabbing a can of beer from the fridge and heading towards his bedroom.

Flopping down on his bed he grabbed his phone off the nightstand and went to type up a message but stopped, looking at the name he had entered.

_ Tweek Tweak _ .

He hoped his number was still the same. He hoped this would work.

So with a cautious state of mind he typed up something quickly and hit send. 

He held his breath for what felt like forever until he saw three little dots pop up on the screen. This was either good news or bad news. Good if it was Tweek, bad if it was some random person who had just gotten a message asking about their dinner date.

Either way it would certainly be interesting.

_ ‘Who is this?’ _

_ ‘It’s Craig.’ _

_ ‘Oh.. sorry. I didn’t have your  _ _ number saved.’ _

Well, it was a relief that it was in fact Tweek he was speaking to. And he actually wasn’t all that shocked that he didn’t have his number saved in his phone anymore… actually Craig was kind of shocked Tweek didn’t have his number blocked all together.

_ ‘What’s up?’ _

_ ‘Oh. Right. About our date.’ _

_ ‘You better not be cancelling on me Craig Tucker!’ _

_ ‘No no no no, I’m not! I swear I’m not!’ _

_ ‘Good… don’t want you running away on me again.’ _

Craig’s eyes grew wide as he stared at his screen. Perhaps he was reading too much into what Tweek had just said but if he was picking up the right vibe from the message it meant that Tweek wanted Craig back in his life… and honestly? Craig wanted that too. He had always wanted that.

_ ‘I’m not running away anymore I swear.’ _

_ ‘So… you said you had a question about dinner?’ _

_ ‘Oh, right.. yeah! Fancy Italian or casual Italian?’ _

_ ‘Please don’t feel like you need to take me somewhere fancy. As long as they serve wine I’m fine with wherever you pick.’ _

_ ‘Anyway I’m sorry to do this but I have to go. I’ve got a story to cover in five. But I’ll call you tonight?’ _

_ ‘Yeah… yeah. Sounds good. Talk to you then.’ _

Craig couldn’t stop looking at the phone screen. He couldn’t stop smiling and he couldn’t stop thinking about Tweek.

He knew this was a good thing… a very, very good thing. But there was a burning feeling in his chest that was making him think that perhaps all this good would bring something bad… and he certainly didn’t want that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this chapter a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Craig ran away because he was scared and overwhelmed and he had a lot of things going on in his life… right? He wouldn’t do that this time, right?
> 
> No. No of course not.
> 
> Craig was a changed man. Craig had asked him out on a date. Craig was the one who approached him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my Tumblr account :
> 
> https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/

Tweek was anxious, and excited. He stood in his room after a long day at work looking into his closet to figure out what exactly he was going to wear on his first date in a very long time with Craig Tucker.

 _The_ Craig Tucker.

Famous stunt cycle and dirt bike rider Craig Tucker.

Also as in _ex-boyfriend_ Craig Tucker.

It was probably a stupid idea to be going out with him but Tweek really couldn’t bring himself to turn him down. Even as much as he wanted to when he asked Tweek knew he was incapable of saying ‘no’ to this man even after everything he had done to him.

Ripped out his heart, hurt him to the very core of his being…

Tweek loved this man. And he wasn’t exactly sure why he was still holding onto feelings that he probably should’ve let go all those years ago when Craig ripped his heart from his chest by leaving him standing in the rain as that bastard rode off on his motorcycle.

So why exactly did Tweek still feel all these different things about him? Why did his heart hammer in his chest? Why did there feel like there were butterflies in his tummy whenever Craig was around? And more importantly why did he always feel so tongue tied whenever Craig spoke to him?!

It was a mystery that perhaps he wouldn’t even be able to solve.

He wished he had the answers to everything that he seeked out but unfortunately he didn’t. And that was driving him crazy.

Tweek slammed his closet doors shut and slumped against a wall as he dug for his phone in his pockets. He wanted to call someone, anyone really, and just talk about his frustrations and anxiety and his feelings as a whole.

Chewing on his bottom lip he dialed a number and bounced his leg as the phone rang for what felt like forever.

“Come on… pick up. Pick up…”

_“Hello?”_

“Wendy! Thank god you answered, I need your help!”

_“Whoa, slow down a minute Tweek… what exactly do you need help with?”_

Tweek took a deep breath to center himself to collect his thoughts before speaking, “I’ve got a da-“

_“A date?! With who?!”_

“I-“ should he tell her? Because Wendy knew all about his past with Craig and he wasn’t exactly sure he wanted to open up and explain that can of worms.

But at the same time this whole entire thing started because he was having a crisis about going out with Craig.

“It’s Cra-“

_“Tucker?”_

“That’s the one.”

He didn’t hear anything for a while. Maybe she had hung up? No… Wendy wouldn’t do that to him. Perhaps all she did was mute the call to collect her bearings? Tweek understood that what he had just told her was a lot to take in so he could understand that much.

“Wendy?”

_“I’m still here.”_

“You just… you got quiet is all.”

 _“I apologize about that, I was just trying to understand_ why _exactly you were going out on a date with a guy who left you.”_

She made a fair point. Really, she did. But Tweek just couldn’t explain it. Seeing Craig made everything seem okay, it made him feel important and special to know that for whatever reason this guy was still crazy about him to ask him out.

And Tweek missed that.

“I just missed him… it’s really hard to explain but I dated the guy for a few years and he just made me feel so important and so special… I could never bring myself to date a guy after him. I mean I tried but-“

_“I get it. You found someone like him, everyone else was a dud… but Tweek you have to understand that-“_

“He left me? I get that… but like I said it’s difficult to explain. Just… can you help me or not?”

More silence. She was probably processing everything that he had told her. It was a lot to take in, sure, and he understood that. 

But he had been sitting there waiting for her to answer for far too long and it was making him anxious, “Wendy?”

_“Sorry. I’m here… you need help with your date you said?”_

“Yes please, I’d be helpful to have some advice and input.”

_“My advice is don’t let your guard down, and order the most expensive thing on the menu.”_

“I… yeah… okay. Good start?”

_“I’m sorry Tweek, I just don’t think going out with an ex no matter who, or how famous, they are is a good idea. I’ll support your decision because you’re my friend but just know that if he did something once he may very well do it again.”_

“I’ll uh, I’ll keep that in mind then. But I have to go so thanks for talking to me about this, I appreciate it.”

_“Of course. Tell me about it later.”_

“I will,” and with that he ended the call. He appreciated her, and her advice, but she didn’t know Craig like he knew Craig. Craig ran away because he was scared and overwhelmed and he had a lot of things going on in his life… right? He wouldn’t do that this time, right?

No. No of course not.

Craig was a changed man. Craig had asked _him_ out on a date. Craig was the one who approached him.

With a sigh Tweek looked down at what he was wearing and panicked. He had a dinner date in thirty minutes and he needed to hurry!

With one fluid motion he stood, spun on his heels and started digging through his closet. A nice mustard yellow dress shirt and black pants would do just fine.

Throwing his old shirt off and fumbling with his pants he eventually managed to dress himself in record time.

He had twenty minutes to spare and the restaurant was twenty five minutes away.

“Fuck.” He mumbled under his breath as he ran out of his bedroom, grabbed his keys and hurried out of the door.

He couldn’t be late. Not when he told Craig to not be late. It would be completely contradictory of him! So instead all he did was hope for the best when he hopped in his car and started his drive.

* * *

Tweek had made it almost on time, he was a minute late, thanks to traffic, but nonetheless he was there. Managed to get them a table and order a glass of wine. So now all he had to do was wait for Craig… who was running ten minutes behind.

But Tweek understood. Unexpected things happen and can cause people to be late. He wasn’t going to punish him for it. Craig was doing his best and Tweek has to give him credit for that.

And then another five minutes passed. Tweek was on a second glass of wine.

Maybe Craig had forgotten about him. Maybe Wendy was right. Maybe Craig was just like he was way back then when he left Tweek all alone after they had promised to run away together.

It seemed like a hopeless endeavor if Tweek was being honest with himself. Craig has forgotten about him.

Until he saw him waltz in, leather jacket on and… was that a _tie_? Who was this man and what had he done with the Craig Tucker that Tweek knew?

“I’m so sorry I’m late but I stopped to get you something.”

Tweek eyes him curiously and watched as Craig pulled out some flowers he had hidden behind his back, “these are for you.”

Tweek smiled warmly and held them to his nose, taking in all the different scents they had to offer him. It was such a nice gesture, something that Craig always did whenever they went out. It was just like old times, just as Tweek thought it would be.

“I also got stuck in traffic… so please don’t hate me for not being here on time.”

“Craig I’m not mad… now please sit down.”

He nodded and sat in the open chair across from Tweek and scratched the top of his head, “you’ve had wine I see.”

“I thought you weren’t coming… I know that’s stupid of me to-“

“It isn’t… you have every right to think that considering we ended things on piss poor terms but I really do want to make it up to you and just… maybe try to get back to where we were? I’ve missed you and I never stopped thinking about you.”

Tweek smiled and felt his face getting warm. Maybe it was the wine… he hoped it was the wine. “You made dating incredibly difficult I hope you know. No other man could even come close to you and none of them ever worked out for that reason alone.”

Craig smiled. Like an actual smile. He hadn’t done that in years and it felt good. Because Tweek was the only person who could make him do that, “I actually haven’t dated in years. You were my first and last relationship so I’m a bit rusty.”

“You’re off to a decent start,” Tweek gave the flowers one more sniff as he grinned to himself behind all the bright petals.

“Decent huh?”

“You were late, I have to dock points somewhere.”

They both shared a laugh.

* * *

Things seemed to be going well on both ends. Craig has Tweek laughing and smiling, and Tweek was making Craig laugh, he was gently holding his hand, their feet were intertwined with one another under the table. Everything was going as smoothly as they could be.

Until _he_ decided to show up.

Craig had seen him. He knew he was sitting at another table just watching them. And he was trying his best to ignore him… but that was getting harder and harder with each passing minute.

“Hey Tweek,” Craig let go of the blonde’s hand and untangled their feet. He heard him let out a soft whine and it broke Craig’s heart just a little bit, “I’ll be right back… there’s a guy over there I know so I’ll be right back.”

Tweek followed Craig’s gaze and noticed the man in all black sitting just a few tables away, staring at the both of them.

“That guy has been staring at us all night, make him stop while you’re at it.”

Craig nodded and made his way over, taking a seat across from him. Neither said a word, at least not right away, as their stared at one another. 

“Who’s he?”

“None of your business, that’s who.”

“He looks awfully familiar…”

Craig grit his teeth and clenched his fists on his lap, “he doesn’t concern you.”

“Oh… but I think he does.” The devil leaned in closer to the man seated across from him and offered up a wicked smirk. “See, I remember very clearly telling you to forget about things like that.”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“I said those things to make sure _he_ doesn’t find them. I said those things so you didn’t have any distractions. It won’t be my fault when he gets hurt.”

Craig looked over at Tweek, who waved at him, before turning his attention back to the man. “If he gets hurt I’m done, I won’t do it anymore and you can have your stupid ‘gift’ back. I’m tired of living this way, I’m tired of being alone… he makes me happy and this… this… _curse_ ruined my life. I’ll do what you need me to do but he stays out of it.”

“I’m afraid I can’t promise his safety. For you see my son is… unpredictable and a danger to the world, which is why I need you to stop him.”

“I’ll stop him… but then I’m done and I want out.”

He stood up without another word and went back to his table, flipping the devil off in the process.

Tweek grabbed Craig’s hands almost instantly after he sat down, “is everything okay?”

“It’s fine.”

“You seem mad.”

So Craig put on a smile and looked Tweek in the eyes, “I’m not mad anymore.”

“So we can enjoy the rest of the date?”

“How about we pay and head back to my place?”

Tweek nodded enthusiastically while Craig flagged down their waiter.

And Wendy said things would be a disaster. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this chapter a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Craig started chewing on his bottom lip, bouncing one of his legs up and down. Was he really about to do this? Was he seriously about to just let everything out into the open and sound like a complete and utter lunatic in front of the man he so desperately wanted to be with?
> 
> “I sold my soul to the devil.”
> 
> The answer was yes. Yes he most certainly was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my Tumblr account :
> 
> https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Things weren’t supposed to end up being this way. But here they were, making out up against a wall in Craig’s shared apartment with Clyde, and thank god they were alone. Tweek’s legs were wrapped around Craig’s waist, his arms around Craig’s neck and his fingers tangled into Craig’s hair while Craig held him tightly around the waist, trailing kisses down Tweek’s neck and across his jaw and occasionally biting at his bottom lip.

It started as a really simple good night kiss after they left the restaurant to head to their respective vehicles but it just kind of… lingered.

Craig ended up grabbing one of Tweek’s hands and pulling him closer. And Tweek probably shouldn’t have initiated another kiss. He probably shouldn’t have grabbed at Craig’s belt or at his tie but he couldn’t help himself.

He missed Craig. He missed everything about him… the kisses included.

“Tweek,” Craig’s voice was low and his breath was hitting Tweek’s skin. It caused the blonde to squirm and tug at the hairs at the base of Craig’s neck which earned him a low growl.

“Craig…” Tweek was finding it really,  _ really _ difficult to keep himself composed. He felt like he was going to melt into a puddle of goo at any given moment. “What- what are we doing?”

Craig dragged his teeth across Tweek’s neck, lightly biting at his Adam’s apple and his hands were pulling Tweek’s shirt free from being tucked into his pants. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” it was a difficult task to do but Tweek managed to push Craig’s face away from his neck so he could look into his pretty hazel eyes. “What are we doing?”

“I believe it’s called making out Tweek… I mean I could be wrong but if I recall correctly-“

“That’s not what I mean.”

Craig raised an eyebrow and tilted his head slightly to the side, not once breaking eye contact.

“What I mean is… you’re my ex, and… and we’re making out in your apartment. What exactly does that mean for us? What are we Craig?”

What Craig wanted to say was that he wanted them to be together again. He wanted to see if Tweek would be his boyfriend again after all this time.

“Well…” Craig leaned down and planted a gentle kiss on Tweek’s lips before pulling away slowly. “I’d like for you to be my boyfriend again…”

It caught Tweek off guard when he heard those words fall from Craig’s lips. Was he opposed to the idea? No. Had he wanted this? Yes. But there were a lot of things that would need to be taken into consideration.

“Craig I-“

He pushed Craig away once more and grabbed hold of Craig’s wrists to stop his hands from roaming any further up his chest.

“I promise I won’t be an asshole anymore…”

“I-“

“I love you Tweek… I always have, and I always will.”

What was he doing? This was dangerous territory that he was entering and he was about to drag Tweek into it. Craig was being stupid and he was being selfish. But at the same time this was something that had been weighing heavily in his heart ever since he made the biggest mistake of his life all those years ago.

“I need you to promise me something,” Tweek kept his voice low as he continued to look in Craig’s eyes. 

“Anything, what is it?”

“I need you to be honest with me.”

Craig lowered his head onto Tweek’s shoulder, his lips kissing at his neck as he nodded, “okay.”

“Okay?”

Craig nodded again before lifting his head and resting his forehead against Tweek’s. He wasn’t about to lose him again. Matter of fact Craig was going to fight and give it everything he had to keep him safe and make sure they stayed together this time around.

“Okay.”

There was an elongated silence between them, the only sound being shared was their breathing and their beating hearts. But someone had to break and say the first word. And the person who did it just so happened to be Craig.

“If we’re being honest I need to tell you something.”

He let Tweek down gently and took his hand, leading him over to the couch and pulling him down onto his lap as he sat. Craig held him around the waist as if his life depended on it.

“What’s wrong?”

Tweek ran his fingers through Craig’s hair as he rested his head against Tweek’s shoulder. His eyes were closed and he needed to figure out a way to actually go about saying this without sounding like a fucking lunatic. 

“Craig?”

Tweek was gentle when he lifted Craig’s head so they could look at each other. It took Craig a bit before he opened his eyes but Tweek could see the worry and the fear that he never noticed resided there before now.

“What’s wrong Craig?”

Craig let out a long, shaky breath before he decided to speak. It was now or never and he wanted to do the whole honesty thing right. 

“I have something to tell you that sounds crazy, and maybe it is crazy… but you want me to be honest and this is the only place I know where to even start with that.”

“Take your time.”

Craig started chewing on his bottom lip, bouncing one of his legs up and down. Was he really about to do this? Was he seriously about to just let everything out into the open and sound like a complete and utter lunatic in front of the man he so desperately wanted to be with?

“I sold my soul to the devil.”

The answer was yes. Yes he most certainly was.

“Excuse me?”

Craig nodded slowly as he observed Tweek’s face, watching how his expression turned between confused, perplexed and angry. He raised an eyebrow and continued to look at Craig’s face for an indication of this being a joke… but there was no such sign.

“When my dad was sick I struck a deal with a guy who said he would make him better… turns out that guy was the devil, he ended up killing my dad and I sold my soul to him because I was a stupid kid who would do anything for my family at the cost of everything else in my life.”

Tweek laughed, like straight up laughed at Craig’s words. It was something so ridiculous that it couldn’t possibly be true.

“That’s funny Craig, but tell me the truth.”

“That- that  _ is _ the truth…”

The laughing stopped and the confusion returned as Tweek looked Craig square in the face to try and find the slightest hint of him joking. But this was also Craig and he wasn’t exactly one for joking around.

“You’re… you’re serious?”

Craig nodded.

“But that’s so absurd! Please tell me you can understand why I’m having a hard time believing this to be true.”

Craig wasn’t going to lie and say he didn’t understand, because he did. He knew all of this sounded so far out in left field that it would be impossible for anyone to find true.

But it was true damn it. And there was only one possible thing Craig could think of to do in order to let Tweek know that he was telling the truth.

“I’ll show you.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said I’m going to show you.”

Craig stood in record time, pulling Tweek up with him as he pulled him out the front door by the wrist. It was a long shot and it was going to be incredibly awkward but it needed to get done. There needed to be no secrecy between the two of them and this felt like a good starting point.

It was cold outside. Tweek held at his arms as he stayed close to Craig, who was surprisingly warm might he add, as the two continued to wander through town with no destination in mind. 

Tweek had no idea where Craig was taking him or why they just didn’t hop on his bike and go from there.

_ “Give me your purse!” _

“Craig,” Tweek grabbed hold of Craig’s hand tightly as he kept his voice low. “We should call the police, that lady is being robbed!”

Craig said nothing, instead peering around the corner into the alleyway to see that, indeed, a woman was being robbed of her belongings by a man holding her at knife point.

“Jesus he’s got a knife!”

“Stay here.”

Craig pulled his hand free from Tweek’s grip and prepared himself for the worst. He prepared himself for the change to happen and right in front of Tweek no less.

He braced himself, holding on to the side of the building they were standing by as the evil within him came forward.

The flesh ripped away from his muscles, the muscles disintegrated down to the bone and soon he was nothing more than a skeleton with a flaming skull wearing Craig’s clothing and Tweek had fallen backwards onto the ground covering his mouth in a state of panic.

“Cr- Craig?”

All the monster before Tweek did was nod as he held a finger up to his mouth before making his way over towards the two in the alley. 

“Hey,” well… this was the first time Craig had heard himself speak in this form. His voice was deep, deeper than usual actual, and it made Tweek’s blood run cold. “Dirtbag!”

The man looked over at the skeleton, as did the woman who cowered in fear. He grabbed hold of the man’s shirt and gave the woman a look as if telling her to get away, which she did after she snatched her bag back from the man Craig was holding tightly on the shoulder.

“What the hell are you?”

Craig had superhuman strength as he lifted the man up by the collar of his shirt and staring right into his eyes. In a state of panic the man plunged his knife into Craig’s shoulder, watching how the metal melted away when it came into contact with the heat. That didn’t stop Craig however, oh no. But he was pretty sure this guy was shitting his pants right about how. Your soul is stained by the blood of the innocent.”

Tweek wasn’t sure what was happening, but he heard the man scream and saw him wiggle to break free of Craig’s grip.

“Now feel their pain.”

Now he saw the color drain from the man’s face as his eyes turned black and ashen, almost as if they were burned. It was a truly horrifying sight to behold and Tweek hoped he would never have to experience it ever again.

Craig dropped the now limp body to the ground before turning his attention back over to Tweek,

“Craig?”

The skeleton nodded before turning his head in the opposite direction, avoiding looking in Tweek’s general direction, “monster.”

“I’m not afraid of you…” okay that was a partial lie but Tweek reached a hand forward and pressed it past the flames that engulfed his skull until it rested on Craig’s cheek. He knew the real Craig, his Craig, was still there. 

He watched how the flame dispersed, how the tiniest hint of Craig poked through, the skin on his face returning slowly and his pretty hazel eyes, okay well eye, staring at him and the slightest bit of black hair residing on the top of his head returned.

“We have to go…”

“You need to turn back.”

Then it was as if something caught Craig’s attention without him even looking at anything other than Tweek. Even with the gentle touch on his cheek the essence of humanity escaped him and the demon within him returned, “evil.”

“What’re you-?”

“Hello Rider, and guest.”

“Oh right-o this is going to be quite a jolly good time!”

Both Craig and Tweek turned to find a demon with the blood red eyes and midnight black hair looking at them both with a wicked grin on his face that showed off his pointed teeth, accompanied by a peppy blonde with a British accent.

“I hear you’ve been looking for me so allow me to introduce myself… my name is Damien and I’m the devil’s son. This one beside me is my minion and his name is Pip.”

Craig grunted, looking him up and down before lifting his hand and giving the demon the middle finger as he pushed Tweek along, trying his best to get him as far away from Damien as possible.

“Run."

“What about-“

“Run.”

So Tweek did exactly that. He ran and didn’t even look back, no matter how badly he wanted to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this chapter a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He looked down and quickly moved to the side upon the realization that he was standing on top of a grave.
> 
> _Beloved Father and Husband  
>  Thomas Tucker  
> 1950-1999_
> 
> Of course it was his own father’s grave… but maybe, just maybe, the universe was trying to tell him something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my Tumblr account :
> 
> https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/

Waking up to the sound of ones phone going off every few seconds because of a notification was less than ideal.

But what was even less ideal was waking up in the wet, dewy grass with the morning sun gently hitting the side of his face and his eyelids.

“Fuck…” he grumbled groggily to himself as he pushed himself up out of the grass and started wiping at his shirt as he slowly opened his eyes to adjust to the morning’s light.

He glanced around, taking in his surroundings until it clicked with him that he was in a cemetery. But the reasons as to how he got here still remained to be seen.

He looked down and quickly moved to the side upon the realization that he was standing on top of a grave.

_ Beloved Father and Husband _

_ Thomas Tucker _

_ 1950-1999 _

Of course it was his own father’s grave… but maybe, just maybe, the universe was trying to tell him something.

“Hi dad,” he placed a hand on top of the cold marble tombstone as he smiled weakly. Craig never got to say goodbye, he never got a chance at having closure, which was no one’s fault but his own mind you.

When he opened his mouth to speak again his phone once again went off in his back pocket. With a groan he grabbed it and looked at the screen, his eyes going wide instantly.

20 missed calls, 15 voicemail messages, and a whole lot of frantic texts from Tweek that seemed to just keep coming in.

And while the notifications themselves were just downright annoying, it was nice to know that Tweek was so concerned about him and that he actually cared enough to give a shit.

With a sigh Craig hit a button and held his phone up to his ear, listening to it ring for a short while before Tweek picked up.

_ “Craig, oh my god you’re alright!” _

“Yeah I’m fine… I just woke up.”

_ “I didn’t wake you did I? I’m so sorry if I did but after last night I was worried.” _

“You’re fine Tweek, it’s okay. Take a few deep breaths for me alright?”

Craig could hear Tweek doing as he had instructed on the other end of the line. Nice to know he still remembered how to calm Tweek down after all these years should he ever need to again.

“Better?”

_ “Yes, thank you. Now where are you?” _

“In the cemetery where my dad is buried but I have no recollection of getting here.”

_ “I’ll be there soon okay? Just… just don’t go anywhere.” _

“I- yeah… yeah okay. I’ll see you soon then.”

He hung up before hearing if Tweek had to say anything else. But he knew the blonde was on his way, and that was reassuring. 

“Nice of you to finally wake up,” a voice from behind him greeted as a dog ran up to his feet. Craig couldn’t decide where to look or what to focus on so instead he chose to simply scratch the dog’s head and look towards the source of the mystery voice.

A man stood behind him, a few feet away, with black hair peeking out from under a blue hat, blue eyes and a brown jacket tied around his waist.

“Who are you?”

“Name’s Stan,” the man greeted with a smile. “And that’s my dog Sparky.”

“Oh, well, nice to meet you. I’m-“

“I know who you are.”

Right.

This whole being somewhat famous thing would do that to a person.

“What brings you here to, you know, fall asleep in the grass?”

“Visiting my dad… were you watching me?”

“Not really… but I’m the overnight caretaker. I was getting ready to leave and saw you were awake so I figured I’d ask what brought you here.”

Craig nodded his head as he licked over his bottom lip and turned his attention back towards the tombstone in front of him.

“You should probably get that cut on the back of your shoulder tended to, you don’t want it to get infected.”

“Cut on my shoulder…?”

He glanced back and, sure enough, noticed the gash in his left shoulder and the hole in his shirt. It came back to him after that… he stopped a mugger and came face to face with the devil’s son Damien.

What a weird and eventful night.

“How’d that happen?”

“Stopped a guy from robbing a woman of her purse in an alleyway,” Craig shrugged then instantly brought a hand up to cover the cut as a sharp pain hit his shoulder that caused him to wince.

“Just go to the hospital to prevent it from getting infected, that could really put a damper on your career you know.”

“Yeah… thanks. I’ll have my boyfriend take me when he picks me up.”

Stan didn’t say another word. Instead he simply gave a curt nod and carried on his way over to a pickup truck that was parked nearby. 

Craig watched him go before turning back to face his father’s grave. There were a lot of things he wanted to say and get out in the open… but he was just so fucking awful at words that nothing was really coming to mind that wasn’t stupid simple pieces of conversation.

“Sorry I ran away… and I’m sorry I left mom and Trish alone. It was stupid of me, you know? They needed me during that time and I was only thinking of myself.”

He found himself sitting in the grass with his legs crossed. Everything in the world was slipping away as he kept his focus on nothing but his father.

“I wish I could tell you everything but I’m not sure I quite know how to do that. But just know that I’m sorry and… and that I miss you.”

He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn’t even hear Tweek approaching, nor did he hear him call out his name. Matter of fact when he realized that Tweek was even there was when the blonde placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Craig… you okay?”

Craig didn’t say much. Actually, he didn’t say anything at all. Instead all he did was glance up at Tweek and nod solemnly.

“He’d be proud of you I hope you know.”

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better…”

“No I’m serious, he would be,” Tweek sat next to him and leaned his head against Craig’s shoulder. “Do you just want to stay here a little longer?”

“No… not really if I’m being honest with you. I’d actually like to go get my shoulder looked at.”

“Why what’s wrong with yo- Jesus Christ! What happened?”

“From last night, remember?”

“Oh… right.” Tweek remembered, sure, but he certainly wished that he didn’t. “Come on, let's get going then.”

They stood together, Tweek holding onto Craig’s hand tightly as they made their way over to his car.

It was funny, but there was a part of Craig’s being that felt incredibly calm here. A part of him that truly felt at peace with himself and the world around him. He hadn’t felt like that in a while and he liked it.

“Hey Tweek?”

“Yeah?”

“Where’d you end up going last night?”

“I went to my apartment… maybe I shouldn’t have done that considering we’ve got demons chasing after us but that was the first place I thought of.”

“No, you had every right to go there. You were scared and home is where you feel the safest… but maybe it would be better if you stayed with me for a while… just in case anything, you know,  _ does _ happen.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I want you to be safe and I don’t think your apartment is the safest place for you to be staying right now.”

Tweek understood, really he did, but he didn’t need Craig to look out for him anymore. He could take care of himself and hold his own should he need to.

“Look… I appreciate what you’re trying to do but I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself thank you very much.”

“Are you though?” Craig turned in his seat to look at the blonde as Tweek continued down the road. “Are you capable enough to take down some demons should the time ever come? What happens when they hurt you? Or… or worse…”

Tweek tried to ignore it, but he had never heard Craig sound like that before. He sounded so afraid, and so broken. And to be perfectly honest it was making his heart hurt.

So with a sigh, he glanced in Craig’s direction quickly, “you really are worried, aren't you?”

Craig nodded, “I don’t want to lose you again Tweek… I already made that mistake once…”

The blonde reached across the center console and placed a hand on Craig’s knee, giving it a tight squeeze, “if it’ll really make you feel better then fine.”

Craig placed his hand over top of Tweek’s, intertwining their fingers together as he smiled weakly, “thank you.”

The rest of the car ride to the hospital was a quiet one. Neither choosing to speak, instead holding hands tightly with their intertwined fingers to speak for them.

It was nice, and it was peaceful.

And it made Craig realize just how much he had missed out on in his life for all these lonely years.

But he wanted to change everything. He wanted to give himself a life that he robbed himself of having, and the happiness that he gave up on all those years before this very moment.

“Do you want me to go with you?”

He blinked a few times as the sound of Tweek’s voice pulled him from his thoughts, “huh?”

“Inside… do you want me to come inside with you?”

Craig nodded dumbly, to which Tweek smiled and let go of his hand so they could exit the vehicle… but their hands quickly found each other once more as they made their way in.

It smelled sterile, and way too clean for its own good… but it was a hospital so what were they were to expect?

Tweek helped Craig over to the desk to get himself checked in and the woman smiled up at them, “checking in?”

Craig nodded.

He watched how the woman rifled around behind the desk before handing him a clipboard, “just put your name on the check in form and fill all that out and bring it back up to me when you’re finished.”

Once again, Craig nodded as he signed himself in.

Then Tweek lead him over to a couch nearby and the two sat, and Craig’s eyes instantly scanned the contents of the clipboard he was holding. 

He had forgotten how daunting paperwork could be and how much he absolutely hated doing it. He groaned in agitation which caused Tweek to look over at him with a raised brow, “what?”

“Nothing just… I hate paperwork…”

The blonde took the clipboard and pen from Craig’s hands, “then I’ll do it. Let’s see here…” he looked over everything and filled in what he knew. “How tall are you?”

“Six foot three.”

“Jesus I forgot how tall you actually were…”

Craig smirked as he watched Tweek write down that piece of information.”

“And how much do you weigh?”

“Uh…” Craig moved himself in a way that allowed him to grab his wallet out of his back pocket. He flipped it open and looked at his driver’s license, “hundred fifty-seven.”

Tweek scribbled that down. 

“Any past medical history, allergies or medications?”

“No allergies, no medication, but I was in the hospital earlier this month because I fell off my bike…”

“Jesus Craig!”

“I’m fine though, don’t worry about it.”

“Tell me not to worry all you want but I’m still going to.”

Craig rolled his eyes before leaning his head against Tweek’s shoulder, “fine.”

“Contact information?”

“Put you.”

Tweek scribbled his information in the spaces provided, “and insurance information?”

Craig put his wallet onto Tweek‘s lap, “my insurance card is in there somewhere.”

“Somewhere? You don’t know where it is and you want me to look for it?”

Craig didn’t say anything as he grabbed his wallet back from Tweek’s lap and started searching for what he needed, nodding to himself when he eventually found it and placed it onto the clipboard, “there.”

“Thank you.”

Just as Tweek went to write everything started to shake and the lights started to flicker. The two looked at one another as Craig wrapped an arm around Tweek’s shoulders, pulling him to his chest.

“What’s happening?”

Craig looked around just as the windows shattered, sending glass flying. He shielded his eyes with his arm and covered Tweek’s body with his own, “nothing good.”

“What do we d-“

“Well hello rider.”

Craig looked up and noticed Damien standing there, smiling menacingly at him as Pip stood behind him, bouncing up and down on his heels. The door behind them open and the outside dark. The wind was blowing and Craig could see the red of Damien’s eyes practically glowing. 

“Did you miss me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this chapter a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He wanted to just close his eyes and wake up in his own bed to realize that this was all just a messed up dream that was toying with him. But when he did just that he realized that everything was his reality and that all of this was actually happening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my Tumblr account :
> 
> https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/

This was obviously less than ideal. And Tweek had never in his life seen Craig look so terrified and full of rage all at the same time.

He could see the gears turning in Craig’s head and he saw the slightest hint of the demon inside of him trying to break free from under the surface.

“Don’t,” Tweek spoke softly to him as he grabbed a hold of one of Craig’s hands.

“Tweek I have to. I-“

“No! What about all these people Craig?”

Craig glanced around, a worried look overcoming his features, “I have to.”

Tweek watched how he stood, how Craig took a deep breath to prepare himself for what was to come, before he saw the flicker of a flame overtake him and how Craig let out a menacing laugh.

“Hey,”

That voice was familiar but all so foreign. Tweek knew it was Craig but it was still a different person completely.

“Dirtbag.”

“Oh you were right Damien! He did show up!” Pip continued to bounce up and down on his heels as he excitedly pointed in Craig’s direction.

“Ah,” Damien looked towards him with a smug expression on his face. “I see you finally decided to show up, how thoughtful of you.”

Tweek could hear people around him whispering and muttering to themselves. He knew this would happen. All of this would do a lot of damage to all parties involved. Craig could get in trouble, he could be arrested, he could maybe lose his job. There was bound to be all sorts of press flooding his way in the next few days. 

Tweek heard Craig let out a low growl, watched how he made his way forward and the sound of his boots echoing around him.

It was also the first time that Tweek realized that he left flames in his wake under each step.

He didn’t want to watch this, he wanted to instead get up and run to safety. But he didn’t want to leave Craig again.

Tweek wanted to help. He wanted to make sure he got the rest of these people inside to safety. The door was a no go but this was an emergency room… he could safely get them to the back, to hide in rooms until it was safe for them to leave.

It was crazy and perhaps stupid but he moved cautiously to a mother and her child, placing a hand on the woman’s back, “follow me.”

The woman seemed apprehensive at first but when she looked at the chaos in front of her unfold, Craig had thrown Pip to the ground, before shielding her boy and following Tweek along as closely as she can.

“Mommy what’s happening?” The little boy spoke in between coughs.

“I don’t know sweetheart, I don’t-“

Tweek stopped them abruptly as Damien got thrown in front of them. He slammed against the wall before tumbling to the floor.

Tweek could hear him growl lowly as he lifted his head, eyes glowing red and his true form poking through the surface: teeth coming to a point, horns poking out of his forehead and his nails growing longer. When he went to stand he caught a glimpse of Tweek out of the corner of his eye, giving the blonde a devious grin.

“Well well,” he grabbed at the front of Tweek’s shirt, pulling him up with him.

Tweek grabbed at his wrists, kicked his legs and grit his teeth together. He refused to break, and he refused to give in to whatever it was the demon had planned.

“This is quite a nice surprise.”

Tweek spit in his face and dug his blunt nails into Damien’s wrist. 

“Craig-“

Craig turned around quickly with Pip in his hand and his feet off the ground. And although there was no expression to be seen on Craig’s face Tweek could tell that he was feeling a lot of different things about this situation.

“Drop him.”

Damien’s expression turned smug as he let Tweek’s feet hit the floor, but the grip on his shirt collar tightened. 

“No, I don’t think I will.”

Craig stepped closer, dropping Pip to his feet and grabbing Damien by the collar.

“Unhand me if you know what’s good for you…” his eyes turned to Tweek before he glanced over at Craig with a grin, “and him.”

Craig said nothing, instead yielding his actions and shifting himself back to normal, as difficult as he found that to be when standing before evil itself, and fell to his knees, “don’t hurt him. Please…”

Craig glanced up with a look in his eyes that Tweek knew all too well. A look that Damien would be none the wiser to know the true meaning behind, “just let him go.”

Damien chuckled to himself as he eased up on the grip he had in Tweek’s shirt, but still refusing to let him go entirely, “you offer a hard bargain rider…”

Pip came rushing to Damien’s side, smiling wickedly and grabbing hold of Craig’s chin, “what’re you going to do with him Damien?”

“Make him work for it.”

“Come aga-“

There was a cloud of smoke before him before Craig had the time to react. And when the smoke cleared Damien, Pip and Tweek were gone. Craig was alone, surrounded by people who were staring and whispering about him because of what they had just witnessed. 

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

This isn’t what Craig has wanted.

But of course Damien was going to make him fight and work for what he wanted. Damien was going to use Tweek as a bargaining tool, to try and get what he wanted out of Craig at the end of the day.

However Craig was smarter than he appeared to be. He was already formulating a plan that he hoped would be enough to work.

“Freeze, hands in the air!”

Well, maybe except for the fact that the police might put a damper on everything.

Craig, and the others in the room, put their hands up. Craig wasn’t stupid though. He knew they were there for him and for him alone.

“Craig Tucker, you have a right to remain silent,” he could feel an officer putting cuffs around his wrists. He could feel another patting him down and feeling for contraband or weapons.

He wasn’t going to fight it. He would be compliant and roll with the punches. Everything would work out in the end. Because it had to. For his sake and for Tweek’s sake and for everyone else that would somehow end up involved in this fucked up situation.

“Anything you say can and will-“ he zoned out as the cop read him his rights and as they loaded him up into a police car.

Right now he felt numb and he felt empty.

He wanted to just close his eyes and wake up in his own bed to realize that this was all just a messed up dream that was toying with him. But when he did just that he realized that everything was his reality and that all of this was actually happening.

The sirens started wailing and the car started to drive. So Craig cast his eyes out the window to watch everything getting smaller and smaller behind him as a flicker of a flame appeared in his pupil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this chapter a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On top of Craig just sitting there absolutely silent he was also fighting the urge to let the beast transform him. He was doing his best to hold the demon at bay within himself so he didn’t lose control.
> 
> He was gritting his teeth, banging his head against the bars and bouncing his legs up and down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my Tumblr account :
> 
> https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/

Clyde was pacing about the apartment, his phone clenched tightly in one of his hands. Craig wasn’t answering his phone, Tweek wasn’t answering his phone, and Clyde really didn’t want to get Laura involved with all of this which is why he had yet to actually contact her. Maybe Token would be able to help though, he could always call him and see if him and his police buddies would be able to figure out where Craig and Tweek had disappeared to, regardless if Token wasn’t really that much of a fan of Craig nowadays. 

Just as he was about to dial Token’s number when his phone started to ring, his loud and obnoxious ringtone started echoing through the apartment.

Clyde looked at the name that popped up on the phone screen and it was weird to see that it was Token who was calling him. The same exact Token that he was just about to call.

He answered the phone with a smile, “Token my guy I was just about to call you!”

_ “You were?” _

“Yeah! I need your help with something-“

_ “Well whatever it is it’s going to have to wait. We just brought Craig in and you’re the one he wanted me to call.” _

“Why do you have Craig down at the police station, is everything okay? And shouldn’t he be the one calling me?”

_ “He refused and it’s just... it’s a long story Clyde and I’ll explain when you get here, okay?” _

“Uh, okay… yeah. Yeah I’ll be there shortly.”

_ “See you soon then.” _

He hung up instantly, staring at his phone as his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. He couldn’t believe it, he just couldn’t. Craig wasn’t a criminal, matter of fact he never did anything wrong in his entire life! 

Clyde fumbled to get his jacket and his shoes on. He fumbled when it came to grabbing his keys and leaving the apartment. He couldn’t comprehend what exactly had happened that would cause Craig to be in this much trouble.

And on top of it all Craig had his race tomorrow! He couldn’t back out now, and he certainly couldn’t just not show up! There was a lot riding on this and Clyde wasn’t about to just sit back and ponder all the ‘whys’ and ‘what ifs’ when he should be driving down to the police station to get Craig the hell out of jail. 

He ran down to his car and cursed the damn thing for not starting right away, and making a mental note that he really needed a new car, before the engine came to life and he took off down the street to his destination.

* * *

Craig sat. He didn’t move, and he didn’t dare say a word. He simply sat in the jail cell with three other inmates and a scared teenage boy sitting opposite him looking positively terrified of his surroundings.

The other inmates, however, were staring at Craig, sizing him up and most likely talking about him. Maybe they were trying to figure out how they could beat the ever living hell out of him.

And on top of Craig just sitting there absolutely silent he was also fighting the urge to let the beast transform him. He was doing his best to hold the demon at bay within himself so he didn’t lose control.

He was gritting his teeth, banging his head against the bars and bouncing his legs up and down.

“Hey,” he wasn’t sure which one of the men in the cell said it but it caused him to glance over towards the group. “Ain’t you Craig Tucker?”

“You’re the last person I’d expect to be locked up in here.”

“You’re a pretty boy ain’t cha?”

“Leave him alone!” The teenage boy chimes in after a while, his fists trembling at his sides as he moved to stand defensively in front of the motorcycle rider.”

“Awe how cute, he’s got a fanboy.”

Craig wasn’t going to stand for it. He reached forward and grabbed the boy’s wrist, which caused him to look over his shoulder, as Craig simply nodded with him. He understood, he wanted to defend him but this kid was maybe eighty pounds soaking wet, and could probably be taken out in one punch.

“It’s not worth it kid,” Craig kept his voice quiet as he pulled the kid back to sit beside him. “Just sit down and don’t worry about it.”

The kid merely gave Craig a nod before sitting beside him and pulling his knees to his chest. And Craig? Well Craig still refused to move.

He felt the beast inside winning and pushing forward. He felt his flesh burning and ripping away. He pressed his face against the cold metal bars in order to cool himself down, in order to help subside the feeling coming from deep within.

“Ain’t got nothing to say Tucker?”

“Maybe if we tough ‘im up a bit he’ll say something.”

He didn’t fight it. Craig knew what was coming when they grabbed him and when they threw him to the ground. He accepted it and prepared for impact before they started kicking and punching at him as he lay there not doing anything to fight back against them, but rather fight against himself to resist everything that was bubbling at the surface. 

Everything was breaking and working against him. He was losing this eternal struggle with himself slowly and he hated that it was coming to this. But he really couldn’t control himself any longer and he was getting ready to snap.

But he didn’t. He continued to fight it and push through the pain. He continued to hold back the demon that so desperately tried to break free.

However Craig was a lot stronger than he may have appeared to be.

* * *

Clyde burst through the doors dropping in sweat and panting. He had driven well over the speed limit to make it to the police station in a record time. He needed to get Craig out of this situation because it could go south real fast.

“Token!”

Several police officers looked up from their paperwork and from their desks at the sudden intrusion of the brunette.

But Token calmly made his way out from the back holding a cup of coffee. He quirked an eyebrow before rolling his eyes at the realization that it was only Clyde. 

“Why are you yelling Clyde?”

The brunette ran over and hugged his friend, being incredibly mindful of the coffee in his hand as to not spill it, “there you are! I got here as soon as I could!”

“It- it isn’t that big of a deal Clyde.”

“No Token, listen, you don’t understand. This could be detrimental to Craig’s reputation if the press were to find out about-“

Token pushed Clyde away and stared at him briefly before letting out a sigh. Sure Craig and Token had a falling years ago but deep down he still did care about him. He followed his career and he silently cheered for him and rooted for him. Craig was his friend, he was always going to be someone he cared about.

“Look…” Token needed to be blunt and straight to the point. “He’s being held in a holding cell at the moment but we have reason to believe he was the one who terrorized that town that was on the news.”

“How’d you come to that conclusion?”

Token stayed silent, sighing and pulling Clyde along to where Craig was currently being held.

And the second they walked through the door they heard the grunts and groans of someone who sounded to be in pain. So Token rushed ahead, only to find men getting knocked backwards against the bars of the holding cell.

“What the hell is that?!”

“I need some backup in here!”

Clyde stood there shocked and confused and scared as he held on tight to Token’s arm. He watched how the skeletal being looked over its shoulder at the two men. He watched how the only one left conscious in the cell cowered in the corner.

“You,” the skeleton pointed at the boy. “Innocent.”

Just as several officers made their way into the room, the skeleton melted the bars of the cell and bolted. He started to make a run for it and he whistled loudly which caused the roar of a motorcycle to be heard in the distance.

And before anyone had the chance to stop him a bike rammed into the wall of the building, a hole opening in the brick as the skeleton hopped on and rode off down the road, laughing manically as he did so 

“Token…” Clyde ran over and watched the rider disappear down the road. “What the hell was that?!”

But Token didn’t have an answer. Or rather… he  _ did… _ but he didn’t want to believe it to be true. He didn’t want to believe that what he had just seen was real and he certainly not ready to believe that the thing he just saw was Craig.

“Clyde you need to leave.”

“What? Why? Token where is Craig?!”

“That… I think that  _ was _ Craig. And you need to reach him before the police do.”

“What?!”

“Just go Clyde!”

So once again Clyde ran. He ran back to his car and followed after the mysterious skeletal motorcycle rider. And he really did hope that Token was wrong because he really didn’t want to believe that that was his friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this chapter a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When he stared at Craig he no longer felt love and warmth and compassion. No. When he looked at Craig he felt wrath and rage and disappointment. Everything he had felt as a teenager was bubbling back up to the surface again and making him realize that he was standing face to face with the man who hurt him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my Tumblr account :
> 
> https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/

Tweek found himself in a place unknown to him. He didn’t know where he was or how he ended up in this predicament but he found himself chained up against an old wall that looked like it would break apart at any given moment. 

“Hello?”

His voice echoed around him. His reflection was staring back at him from the window that sat in front of him. Even through the thin layer of grime and dust Tweek could make out his own reflection.

“Anyone?”

“No one will come for you,” footsteps echoed all around him before the demon came into view. Smiling and staring at him with those red eyes of his that made Tweek’s stomach turn in discontent. “They can’t hear your screams.”

“Where am I?”

The demon smiled up at him, showing off his sharp teeth that looked as though they could rip flesh from bone effortlessly, “in a warehouse.”

“Why?”

“Well,” he stepped closer and grabbed Tweek’s chin tightly to make the blonde look at him. “You’re the way I get to the rider.”

“The… The who?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, I know you know who I’m talking about.”

Tweek went to protest, to say something in retaliation but he never got the chance before Damien spoke once more.

“Your boyfriend, the celebrity. He’s my father’s rider, risen from the depths of hell to try and stop my reign of terror against your pitiful mortal world.”

“He’ll stop you… Craig won’t let you win.”

“Craig…” Damien whispered softly to himself as he looked over his shoulder at nothing in particular. He let go of Tweek’s chin before turning on his heels. He clasped his hands behind his back as he started to pace back and forth before the blonde.

Then he stopped in his tracks, looking out in the distance and smiling once again. It took a second for Tweek to realize what was happening but after a while he heard it… the roar of a motorcycle engine in the distance that was drawing closer and closer with each passing second.

“I knew he’d come for you.”

Then it happened. The doors flew open and the flames from the motorcycle ignited the otherwise surrounding darkness.

Tweek smiled softly when he realized Craig was standing there, the demon form present. The motorcycle so familiar to Tweek, all the memories they spent on that thing flooding back to him.

Craig noticed Tweek, making a beeline towards him to release him from his bonds.

“How nice of you to join us.”

Then he turned, noticing Damien standing there with black smoke emitting from around his feet as he seemed to almost change his physical form entirely.

Craig grunted, the flame around his head growing brighter and larger as the anger consumed him. But even with an evil presence looming so near he still paid Damien no mind. He continued on towards Tweek, ripping the chains from his wrists. 

“Hurt?”

Tweek rubbed his wrists gently as he nodded up at him. He couldn’t help but smile, and he had to resist the urge to hug him. 

“I’m not hurt, no. All thanks to you.”

If Tweek didn’t know any better he could’ve sworn that Craig was smiling at him.

But their touching moment of reunion was ruined as Damien started to slow clap, then another set of clapping hands joined in. The demon turned and held out a hand in front of Tweek protectively as he moved his body in front of the blonde’s.

“I’d hate to break up this touching little moment…” Damien sounded as though he could care less about everything. “But we have bigger matters at hand.”

“Oh I do love a touching love story such as theirs Damien! But may I rip him apart now? Please oh please can I?”

Pip bounced up and down on his heels as he smiled wickedly. His fingers intertwined and resting under his chin as he looked at Damien with big, pleading eyes.

“Not yet Pip,” Damien continued staring at the two.

With a simple snap of his fingers both Damien and Pip disappeared into a cloud of black smoke and everything seemed fine… until it wasn’t.

Tweek found himself being surrounded by the same black smoke, a tingle coursing through his body as he looked at his hands… he watched them change and shift right before his eyes to something far more demonic than he knew himself to be. He dropped to his knees and dug those sharp nails into his scalp as he cried out in pain. 

“Tweek?”

When the blonde finally looked up his eyes were blacked out, his smile sinister and his teeth sharp. Something had overcome him, something that made him into something different.

When he stared at Craig he no longer felt love and warmth and compassion. No. When he looked at Craig he felt wrath and rage and disappointment. Everything he had felt as a teenager was bubbling back up to the surface again and making him realize that he was standing face to face with the man who hurt him.

“No,” he grabbed at the leather jacket, pulling Craig close to his face. And he pulled him just close enough to feel the warmth from the flame radiating against his own flesh. “Tweek isn’t here.”

Then the unexpected happened. Tweek threw him with such a great force that it sent Craig flying back against a wall on the other side of the warehouse. And he moved lightning quick, finding himself standing on top of him and holding him down on the ground with nothing but his shoe.

“You…” Craig managed to point up at him. “Monster.” He grabbed hold of Tweek’s ankle and threw him to the side into a pile of empty cardboard boxes that must’ve sat there abandoned for years. 

Craig scanned his surroundings, finding a loose chain hanging from a beam nearby. He pulled it down and stared at it briefly before the whole thing went up in flames. He spinned it around like a lasso. Managing to wrap it around Tweek’s torso before the blonde got a chance to move and he pulled him close.

“No you’re the monster!” With all the force he had in his body Tweek managed to ram Craig down. He managed to knock him backwards and unravel himself from his fiery hold.

He stumbled to his feet and found the closest thing he could find that would do the job: a wooden beam.

While Craig was still down Tweek took his opportunity. He hoisted the beam up into his arms before knocking it down right on top of Craig’s head, watching how the demon disappeared and Craig’s human form returned.

And it was when Tweek saw the blood running down his forehead and Craig’s unresponsive form laying there that he decided to fight back against the demon’s hold on him. He screamed and he cried and he rushed to Craig’s side. What had he done?

“Craig,” he brushed his bangs aside as he lifted Craig’s head up onto his lap. “Craig…” tears rolled down his face. He couldn’t help it. Tweek has done this to him. “Come on Craig… wake up… please. Please wake up.”

Footsteps echoed in the distance before the door slammed open. Tweek looked up and through his blurry, tear filled vision he could manage to make out a form running their way.

“Tweek.”

He knew that voice.

“Clyde he-“

Tweek leaned into Clyde’s embrace as he continued to hold Craig tightly to his chest.

“I’m calling for help Tweek, don’t worry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this chapter a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The details from last night had left him, unable to remember anything. He could remember the beast taking over, and he could remember finding Tweek… but something about Tweek was unsettling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there. Check out my Tumblr account :
> 
> https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/

He woke up groggy and confused. As his vision cleared he could make out that he was in a room with a small television on the wall, a window beside him and… was he in a bed? He sat up and felt an immense amount of pain surged through his entire body. And one of his arms was wrapped up, resting in a sling against his chest. 

Gritting his teeth, he lowered himself back down onto the bed and continued to look around. By the looks of things he was the only person in the room, and he guessed that was good? But what wasn’t good was that he found himself in a hospital bed, which meant that something had happened to him.

He listened to the machines in the room beep, and make a various assortment of noises. Craig grunted as he scratched at where an IV sat in his wrist, jerking his head towards the door when he heard it creak as someone opened it.

“Hi Craig!” A nurse smiled at him kindly as she entered, closing the door behind her.

“Hey,” he waved and gave the nurse, Heidi was her name according to the name tag she wore, a deadpan expression. He watched as she pulled up a chair and sat beside him and how she grabbed his wrist and started looking at the watch on her wrist.

Must be checking his heart rate… Or his pulse.

“Your vitals are great!” She scribbled something down. “How are you feeling though?”

Craig shrugged, “feel kind of weak. I tried lifting myself up and my arm could barely support my body weight. My head hurts, and, actually, everything kind of hurts in its own way.”

More scribbling. The noise of the pen hitting the paper on the clipboard rang loud and clear in his head which caused him to grit his teeth together and grip tightly at the sheets.

“Do you want me to get you some painkillers?”

“Tylenol and water would be great but I don’t need anything other than that.”

She nodded and stood, moving the chair back to its original position up against the wall.

“And one more thing?”

She looked over her shoulder at him, “yes Craig?”

“What the hell happened to me?”

“I’m not sure really,” she turned to face him. “You were bruised up, unconscious and you were escorted by a hysterical blonde and a brunette who had to hold the blonde back from running after you as the paramedics wheeled you in.”

She watched Craig’s face twist before she continued. 

“Your head was cut open when you arrived so we needed to stitch that up,”

He reached up and started feeling at his head, eventually feeling the scruffy part of his hair that had been shaved down to stitch him up, which caused him to grumble.

“Couldn’t of at least given me a haircut to make it look decent all the way around?”

“I’m sorry Craig, but I can always arrange for-“

“No need… my mom is a cosmetologist, I can have her do it.”

The nurse smiled. At least it was clear that he was feeling okay enough to be making jokes.

“You have a minor concussion, which needs to be monitored, and a dislocated shoulder.”

“Which explains the sling.”

She nodded, “which explains the sling.”

“The blonde and brunette… are they still here?”

She nodded, “would you like me to get them for you?”

“Just the blonde please, I don’t want the deal with the hysterics Clyde will throw my way at the moment.”

“Understood. What’s his name if I may ask?”

“Tweek,” Craig smiled at the thought but it quickly faded as a sense of disappointment washed over him. It was funny but he wasn’t as excited as he thought he would be to see Tweek. Instead he felt hurt and there was an underlying feeling bubbling in his gut that made him feel nervous in a sense that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

“I’ll get him for you then, just try to relax okay?”

Craig nodded, “thank you Heidi.”

He watched the nurse leave as he did his best to hold back a wave of nauseousness that suddenly overcame him. He tried to ignore the pain that surged to his shoulder and the stinging sensation he felt at the back of his head.

The details from last night had left him, unable to remember anything. He could remember the beast taking over, and he could remember finding Tweek… but something about Tweek was unsettling.

He was pulled from his thoughts when the door to his room opened and Tweek walked in with a smile on his face, one of Craig’s old sweatshirts on, and flowers in his hands. But the smile on the blonde’s face faded when he saw the distressed look on Craig’s face. He hid it well though before Craig could notice.

“You brought me flowers?”

“Of course I did!” Tweek set them up on the bedside table before sitting on the bed and leaning down to hug Craig lovingly, being mindful of his injured shoulder.

And of course Craig hugged back but he was trying really hard to fight back the demon from within himself, which was strange because why would the demon want to come out? This was only Tweek and there wasn’t an evil bone in all of Tweek’s body.

The blonde pulled away and continued to smile, adjusting himself on the bed as he looked down at Craig. But Craig couldn’t shake the feeling. He continued to look distracted and lost in his own thoughts.

“Hey,” Tweek brushed some of Craig’s hair aside and away from his pretty hazel eyes. “What’s up with you, you seem… I don’t know, distracted?”

“I- I’m sorry…” Craig smiled up at him as he grabbed Tweek’s hand. “Guess my mind is elsewhere today.”

“You were pretty banged up yesterday when I-“ Tweek remembered what happened. He remembered everything as clear as day. But he wasn’t sure if he could bring himself to mention it. It would break Craig, it would cause a rift between them and could potentially lead to their falling out for a second time.

And Tweek definitely didn’t want to lose Craig again.

“Something feels off to me…” Craig spoke up. But his voice sounded broken as he let those words fall from his lips, and that made Tweek’s heart sink and his stomach flip.

“What- what’s wrong?”

“The, uh, the demon…” why was he nervous talking about this? Tweek knew about the deal and the demon and all of that other craziness. “He keeps trying to break free.”

“Doesn’t it only do that when you’re around evil?”

Craig looked away and bit his bottom lip, “yes.”

Everything Tweek was trying so hard to hide was being brought to light. It was just making everything that happened last night all the more real and that scared Tweek even more than he thought it would. 

“Craig I-“

“Don’t lie to me Tweek.” When Craig looked at him, he could see the spark in his eyes of a small flame igniting itself in his pupil, “I’ll know if you are.”

Tweek took a deep breath and scratched the back of his head, “will you get angry with me?”

“Not if you tell me the truth.”

“Promise?” Tweek held out his pinky. It was childish, sure, but it was the only thing Tweek could think of at this very moment in time that would help him feel more at ease.

Craig reached out with his free hand and locked his pinky around Tweek’s, staying like that for a while and refusing to let go which caught Tweek off guard. But of course he wasn’t going to protest it. Any and all contact with Craig was good contact in his eyes, “I promise.”

Tweek stayed quiet for a while as he started to think about everything that he wanted to say and everything that was starting to weigh heavily on his mind.

“Last night you found me in a deserted warehouse just outside of town.”

Okay, that was good. Craig remembered that. 

“And things were great… until they weren’t…”

“What're you talking about Tweek?”

He fidgeted around on the bed and pulled on the bottom of the sweatshirt with his free hand, “Damien showed up and-“

Craig hissed, like actually hissed, and Tweek smiled slightly given the somewhat grim circumstances that filled the air.

“He did something to me… and I- I…” a tear rolled down Tweek’s cheek. Then more, and more, until he found himself sobbing, pulling his hand away from Craig’s and hiding his face.

“Tweek?”

“I hurt you…”

“Come again?”

“I’m the reason why you’re here. I hurt you because of Damien’s influences and I just hate myself for it Craig.”

“Tweek…”

“I don’t want to lose you again okay?” He finally mustered up the courage to look Craig in the eyes. “Just like how you didn’t want to lose me! The feeling is mutual alright? I stayed here last night because I was scared that you weren’t going to wake up and I didn’t know what else to do so Clyde brought me one of your shirts and-“

Tweek wasn’t expecting to hug he received. He wasn’t expecting for Craig to pat his back or for Craig to tangle his fingers into his messy blonde hair. But it happened, and Tweek accepted it. He wrapped his arms tightly around Craig’s back, grabbed at the fabric of the hospital provided shirt for him to wear. He buried his head into the crook of Craig’s neck and just started to openly cry again as he held onto Craig for deal life, while avoiding his injured shoulder mind you.

“It’s okay…” Craig reassured him. “It wasn’t your fault Tweek… it- it’s mine.”

“Huh- What?”

Tweek didn’t understand. It wasn’t Craig’s fault at all!

“What are you talking about?” He pulled away to look at Craig’s face, and in return Craig wipes a tear off of his cheek.

“We got involved again… I was told to forget about my loved ones…” Craig looked away and scratched at the shorter section of hair on his head. “But when I saw you again everything kind of went out the window… I needed you in my life again… and now that you are you-“

Tweek didn’t want to hear another word of it, so he decided to shut Craig up the only way he knew how. Tweek leaned forward and pressed their lips together gently. He placed his hands on Craig’s lap and felt Craig caress his cheek and brush his thumb back and forth across his skin.

It felt good, feeling the warmth radiating from Craig’s palm and just from himself as a whole. It was probably the beast inside trying to break free at the first sign of an evil presence but neither one cared. Craig did his best to fight it and Tweek continued to hold him close, all while being mindful of his boyfriend’s injured shoulder.

“I don’t blame you Craig,” Tweek kissed his lips once more before pulling away to look into boyfriend’s pretty eyes. “I could never blame you… I’ve  _ never _ blamed you.”

“Never?”

“Never. Not back then and not now. We’re going to make it through all of this together and everything will be fine. We can be happy and have a life together and-“

Well, Tweek just spilled all of his intentions that he wanted with Craig. But that was okay, right? Craig wanted those things too, yeah? At least Tweek hoped so… because that’s certainly what they both wanted as teenagers.

“We’ll get there Tweek…” Craig kissed his forehead. “But right now we have to make sure we stop Damien.”

“How do we do that?”

“I have a plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone.
> 
> It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this chapter a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Also... this is the last update you’ll get from me this year so I’ll see everyone again in 2020!
> 
> Thank you.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Rider,” he looked at Craig’s direction with a wicked grin on his face. “We meet again.”
> 
> “Who the hell is that guy?!”
> 
> “No time to explain Clyde, we gotta move!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there.
> 
> Check out my Tumblr account :
> 
> https://asherwritesastory.tumblr.com/

He ran his hand over the freshly shaved area of hair while Tweek simply smiled. In all the time they had been together Tweek had never seen Craig with an undercut, or short hair at all really, so it was definitely an interesting sight to behold.

“I feel ridiculous,” Craig pulled down his baseball cap a little more and shoved his free hand into his front pants pocket.

“I think you look fine,” Tweek leaked against him with a smile on his face. “Are you sure this plan of yours will work?”

“That’s what I’m hoping for.”

The movement of a racing suit came from behind them, then hands on their shoulders, which caused Craig to flinch at the sudden pain that ran through his entire arm. He turned around, glaring at the person behind him wearing all of his equipment. 

“Damn it Clyde!”

“Wha-“ realization dawned on him. “Sorry… I’m sorry!” He looked between both Tweek and Craig, “are you sure this is going to work?”

“It has to.”

“I’m not nearly as tall as you are… what if someone finds out?”

“Well the plan is that, hopefully, they  _ won’t _ .”

Clyde stood there fidgeting for a moment before he finally let out a sigh and lifted the goggles off his face, “why am I pretending to be you? I could’ve just told them you were injured and-“

“It’s… it’s not that simple Clyde, there’s a lot of factors going into this that need to be resolved.”

“What the hell are you talking about? All you’re doing is racing! Plus I don’t even know how to drive a dirt bike!

“Well if we’re lucky you won’t have t-“

“Hi Tweek!” A blonde haired woman made her way over, Davíd and another camera man, Kenny, followed behind her.

The blonde’s attention snapped towards them as he turned and smiled brightly, “Annie!”

They hugged each other instantly.

When they pulled apart she turned her attention towards Clyde. “Craig Tucker, how very nice to meet you.”

“But I’m not-“ Craig nudged him in the side and grunted. “Right, yeah. Nice to meet you too.”

“You sound… different. Are you feeling alright?”

Sure, their voices were almost nearly similar but there were differences should one listen hard enough. Craig’s voice was deeper than Clyde’s, though both carried almost the same monotone. 

“Just, uh, just suffering through a cold! There’s absolutely nothing to worry about!”

Craig rolled his eyes. If Clyde kept any of that up he’d be found out before anything actually started and it would ruin the whole plan.

“Right… okay, so!” She turned back to Tweek and grabbed both of his hands in her own, “where are you setting up? Or rather, where do you plan on setting up?”

“I- I haven’t really thought about it really. I’m here to interview the racers and report on the whole thing.”

“I didn’t know you knew so much about motocross.”

“I know a guy who was into it when we were younger… taught me a thing or two about it.”

“Your ex?”

Craig sucked in a breath and glanced at the woman over the top of his sunglasses. So Tweek did talk about him. Did he talk about him now? Did Annie know the truth? Maybe this would be a conversation to have at a later date.

“That’s the one.”

Annie didn’t say anything, but she gave Clyde a glare that made Craig realize that she most definitely knew about the history between the two of them. 

“Well let me know where you end up and I’ll join you! I have to write up an article so you can always help me out!”

Tweek nodded, “of course. However, I really need to start getting everything set up. I’ll text you alright?”

“Okay, you later Tweek! Bye Craig, bye Tweek’s other friend.”

“It’s Clyde!” The real Clyde shouted as she walked away. “His name is Clyde!”

“Bye Clyde!”

When Annie was out of earshot, and out of sight, Craig turned to Clyde and punched him in the shoulder. “Who are you supposed to be, me or you?”

Clyde rubbed at his shoulder, “you?”

“Right… so start acting like it.”

Clyde straightened himself up, crossed his arms in front of his chest and cleared his throat, “my name is Craig and I ride a motorcycle. Look at my new haircut, I hate it so much but I was an idiot and I hurt myself.”

Craig raised an eyebrow before groaning, “shut up.”

“What? What did I do?!”

“You’re being an idiot.”

“How?” He turned towards Tweek, “come on Tweek tell him that was a spot on impersonation of him!”

Craig glanced down at Tweek while Clyde pleaded in front of him with a pouty lower lip that was unable to be seen do to the helmet on his face.

“I mean to be fair…”

“Ha! See! Told you it was spot on!”

_ “All participants please report to the Rider’s Meeting at the Staging area. Again, all participants please report to the Rider’s Meeting at the Staging area!” _

Clyde looked up at Craig with worry in his eyes, “they’ll know I’m not you…”

“Just shut up and go.”

“Come with me!”

Craig turned Clyde around and pushed him in the general direction of where it was he needed to be going, following all of the other racers already geared up, minus the body armor of course.

“I believe in you,” Tweek waved after him.

Clyde gave a sad excuse of a wave and followed along dejectedly, dragging the boots on his feet (that were a size too big for him mind you) along in the dirt.

“Are you really sure that all of this is going to work?”

“It has to,” Craig wrapped an arm around Tweek’s shoulders and pulled the blonde to his chest. “Because if it doesn’t I’m out of options.”

* * *

It made Craig nervous sitting in the stands, and away from his mother and sister, watching Clyde standing above his bike. It made him nervous that everything was about to crash and burn horribly and everything would backfire in his face.

If Damien didn’t show up then Craig was out of options. Craig would be outed to everyone watching this event, and of course he would have to explain why the hell Clyde was standing there in his gear getting ready to race for him.

He kept eyeing Tweek from afar, noting how he worked so effortlessly and diligently regardless of all this chaos going on around him.

His mother was talking with his sister and pointing out, who she assumed to be, her son amongst the racers.

And then out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of the man responsible for everything that had happened in his life leading up to this moment.

“Craig,” the man sat beside him with a grin on his face. “Surprised you aren’t down there.”

“Out of commission at the moment,” he moved his arm just as much as the sling would let him. “But I have a plan.”

“Do you? Because based on what I’m seeing all you’re doing is sitting and watching.”

Craig grit his teeth together, “do you want me to stop your kid or not?”

The devil sat silent beside Craig, leaning back in his seat and staring at the dirt area before them, “does your friend know what he’s doing out there?”

“Not a chance.”

“Then why him?”

Craig stayed silent, going back to observe the crowd. He watched everyone carefully before pointing out towards where Tweek was positioned, noticing the black haired demon appear quickly in a burst of smoke with his blonde lackey right at his side, “because he’s the distraction I need. Excuse me.”

Craig stood and took his leave, making his way down the bleachers and avoiding being seen by prying eyes of curious spectators. He pulled his phone from his pocket and found Tweek’s number, calling instantly.

“Come on, come on…”

_ “Hello?” _

“Damien is here.”

_ “Where at?” _

“Somewhere by you, be careful… I’m on my way down.”

_ “Shit, I see him. He hasn’t noticed me yet so let’s hope it stays that way.” _

“We’re in a public place with cameras around, he shouldn’t be that stupid.”

Craig pushed through the crowd, drawing closer to Tweek’s location and hanging up his phone as he grabbed the blonde by the arm to pull him aside.

“Jesus Christ Craig!” He hit Craig’s chest, “don’t do shit like that you scared me!”

“Sorry! I’m sorry…” he watched from a safe distance under the bleachers. “He’s staring at Clyde.”

“Probably because he thinks Clyde is you right now.”

Craig nodded, “cover me for a moment. I need to go, uh, change.”

“Craig what are you-“ but when Tweek looked around Craig was gone, disappearing in between throngs of people who surrounded him. “God damn it.”

He could chase after him, sure, but that would be stupid. Tweek needed to avoid Damien like the plague… and that meant staying put at his station to focus on his work.

Craig found himself running into a local port-a-toilet just off to the side of the grandstands. It wasn’t exactly ideal but it was certainly going to have to do. And luckily enough for him, it was unoccupied.

He hurried in quickly and locked the door behind him, hoping no one had noticed. 

He could feel himself getting worked up, could feel himself losing all control he had. He fell to his knees and let out a cry of agony as the demon took over.

The door of the bathroom slammed open and out walked the skeletal being, the people nearby screaming and heading in every which direction as they became aware of its presence in order to get away. Except for Tweek… Tweek simply looked on, smiling to himself as he saw Craig whistle. When he heard the roar of a motorcycle engine drawing closer.

It was his bike. His trusty, reliable bike that had been through hell, literally, and back. He watched Craig get on and let out a laugh as he rode towards the arena.

“Tweek what the hell is that?!” Davíd asked frantically as he did his best to ready his camera to get footage of the beast. “You saw it right?”

“Yeah I- I saw it…”

“Should we get footage of it? That was a fucking skeleton, man! Un puto esqueleto! And on fire no less!”

“Davíd!” Tweek placed his hands on his cameraman’s shoulders, “focus on the issue at hand here! Sure a skeleton is pretty fucking weird but keep rolling on this competition no matter what happens alright?”

Davíd stood there in awe for a moment before eventually mustering up enough courage to nod. He made sure everything was set up as it was supposed to be as he watched Tweek run off into the masses of people and out into the arena.

The race had been stalled, competitors heading towards their crew members. And Clyde stood there frozen, trembling on the top of a bike as a skeleton drew closer, “holy shit what’re you?!”

“Friend,” he managed to say. “Craig.”

“What’d you do with him?!”

“Clyde no!” Tweek got closer, gasping for breath. “It’s Craig! This is Craig!”

Clyde went wide eyed under the helmet, staring the creature up and down as if trying to disprove everything Tweek had said.

But he couldn’t. The crack to the skull, the clothes the skeleton wore and the sling on his arm (now just hanging around his neck loosely)… unless this thing has killed Craig or stolen his clothes then Tweek was telling the truth.

“What the fuck happened to him Tweek?!”

“We don’t have time for that now you have to-“

Lightning cracked in the sky and fire droplets fell from the clouds overhead. And then the sky turned black and smoke filled the area. And as lightning lit up the sky with thunder roaring overhead, an all too familiar person appeared with his lackey not all that far behind.

“Rider,” he looked at Craig’s direction with a wicked grin on his face. “We meet again.”

“Who the hell is that guy?!”

“No time to explain Clyde, we gotta move!”

Tweek grabbed his hand and pulled him along, letting Craig’s motocross bike fall to the dirt.

“But-“

“No time!”

Craig and Damien stared at each other for a long moment before Craig pointed an accusatory finger at the demon before him, “I will destroy you!”

“I’d like to see you try.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> It means so much to me that you decided to take some time out of your day to give this chapter a read.
> 
> Feedback is, as always, welcomed and greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thank you.


End file.
